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THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 



THE SECRET OF AN EMPIRE. 



THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 



BY 

PIERRE DE LANO. 



TRANSLATED 

FROM THE FRENCH BY 

ETHELRED TAYLOR. 



NEW YORK 

DODD, MEAD & COMPANY 

1894 



Copyright, 1894, 

BY 

DoDD, Mead & Company. 



TYPOGRAPHY AND ELECTROTYPING BY C. J. PETERS & SON, 



.^O'-' 'y 145 HIGH ST., BOSTON, U.S. A 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Preface 7 

Introduction 13 

I. Her Marriage 27 

II. Her Private Life 41 

III. Spiritualism at the Tuileries 78 

— IV. Her Relation to Politics 94 

V. The Empress and Society 146 

VI. The Romance of a Marechal of France . . .163 
VII. The Empress and Foreign Affairs . . . . . 184 

VIII. Before the War of 1870 200 

IX. After Sedan 214 

X. After the Fourth of September 225 

XI. The Restoration of the Empire in 1870-71 . . 237 
XII. The Empress and the Prince Imperial . . . 258 

5 



PREFACE. 



, A VERY significant fact marks the present 
time : a large proportion of the reading pubhc 
— or rather of the pubUc who knows how to 
read — has lost its interest in the novel, and is 
turning with curiosity towards history, whether 
that history borrows its interest from the ap- 
parent triviality of the chronicle, or from the 
bare facts of documents. 

Of all contemporary situations, incontestably 
those which have the greatest charm, and which 
captivate the observer most completely, are 
those connected with the reign of Napoleon 
III. ; and they thrill us all the more because of 
the complete silence which, until to-day, has 
enveloped the affairs of the Empire. This 
silence appears to have been broken. The 
time of the Empire seems far distant. But 
many who witnessed or were actors in those 

7 



8 PREFACE. 

brilliant scenes are still living, and memoirs, 
souvenirs, sketches, anecdotes, are now being 
offered to the legitimate curiosity of the eager 
public. 

The characteristic features of the Empire 
are growing more definite, and the public turns 
to this past epoch so little known, as if drawn 
thither by a restless spirit of inquiry. The 
Empire has crumbled, and silence — I repeat — 
the great silence of death, has rested upon its 
memory. Like a fabulous meteor, during a 
period of almost twenty years, it threw a 
glamour over France, dazzling the eyes and 
the minds of men, and with a furnace blast, 
with the titanic upheaval of an earthquake, it 
has been scattered to the four winds, it has 
disappeared in the darkness, and this colossal 
meteor has not even, like a shooting star, left 
in the sky a shining streak of light. 

Why this silence, why this void .<* This ques- 
tion is easily answered. Those who have the 
right to speak, those who could speak with 
authority of this period, are silent, and deliber- 
ately so. 



PREFACE. 9 

The Emperor has inspired deep devotion and 
sincere affection. The men who loved him, 
faithful to his memory, would think that they 
were guilty of treachery if they gave to the 
public, that is to say, to the hatred and anger 
of some, to the scepticism or raillery of others, 
his strange personality. On the other hand, 
those who are interested in the Empire, whether 
novelists or historians, lack the data upon 
which to build an exact account, so that the 
present generation looks upon the twenty years 
of the reign of Napoleon III. as upon a great 
void. 

An author, M. Emile Zola, however, has ap- 
peared upon the scene, who, with a talent bor- 
dering on genius, has attempted, not only to 
reconstruct in his works the social life which 
was the fashion under the Second Empire, but 
also the character of the different classes of 
that time. This man has failed. His novels 
are in no sense a reflection of the period of the 
Empire. They reveal neither its grandeur, nor 
its follies, nor its worldliness, nor its love affairs, 
all of which gave it a peculiar aspect. They 



lO PREFACE. 

contain no true echo of the hfe at that time, 
and in their plebeian solemnity or their popular 
majesty, they offer only indistinct and very 
stereotyped outlines of the people and customs 
of the past. His ignorance of men and women 
shows itself in every page of his works, and 
they are without that social movement which 
the reader to-day expects to find in any work 
which treats of the Second Empire. 

To throw a few clods of earth into this 
chasm which yawns between us and this period, 
and so help to fill it, has seemed to me a task 
worth undertaking. Others will doubtless come 
after me who will do it better. If the pages 
which I offer to the public to - day have any 
merit, this merit, if I may be allowed to say so, 
lies entirely in their veracity, in the scrupulous 
exactness of the facts, serious or frivolous, 
which they relate. They have been communi- 
cated to me by former favourites at the Tui- 
leries, known or unknown colleagues of Napo- 
leon ; they are strewn with anecdotes and with 
authentic facts not heretofore published ; they 
ai'e composed from notes on the intimacies of 



PREFACE. 1 1 

the Tuileries, written by impartial hands, and 
which, taken together with the more important 
facts of my narrative, are worthy of notice. 
In what concerns history or pohtics no source, 
indeed, should be neglected, and the sketch of 
men in their intimate relations as well as the 
simple statement of facts, often contains much 
that is of interest. The Empress Eugenie 
and the Emperor Napoleon are strangely un- 
known to our generation. The Empress espe- 
cially is looked upon by us moderns, as a light 
vapour which one day was lit up by the sun, and 
which one night disappeared in a thunder-storm. 
Those who on the day of her downfall were 
ten years old, and who to-day are thirty, repre- 
sent her as a beautiful coquette, as a picture 
of a frivolous woman in bright and showy 
colours. The Empress was not only what she 
is made out to be by writers who either praise 
or blame her unduly, but she was something 
more. Twenty years have elapsed since she 
left France ; twenty years have surrounded her, 
if not with peace, at least with the calm of 
history. The time has come to speak. She 



12 PREFACE. 

who was adored is an exile ; she who was 
light-hearted has become austere. Traditions 
have arisen about her, and in the midst of these 
the Empress looms uncertain as a phantom. 
She is far removed from the worldliness and 
pomp which were formerly hers ; she is far 
from the intrigues of love and politics with 
which she amused herself ; far from the foolish 
men and women who surrounded her, and who 
crowded into the Tuileries as if it were a fertile 
field of golden grain, as if it were an Eden in 
which life was happier, which was full of dreams, 
free from cares and stormy morrows. The men 
and women are far distant who used to come 
towards her laughing, dancing, singing, making 
merry, and praising her to the stars. The 
stars are hidden. Those which shone in the 
firmament in honour of Caesar and his com- 
panion no longer shine. The time of destruc- 
tion and mourning has come, and we say in 
the sad, sweet words of the poet, — 
" Oil sont les neiges d'antan ? " 

Pierre de Lano. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The preceding pages were written at the 
time when I pubhshed in the Figaro a few ex- 
tracts from the present volume on the Empress 
Eugenie. As I then offered to my readers in 
support of my statements unpubUshed docu- 
ments, and letters from either ministers or 
ambassadors, or from members of the imperial 
family who habitually surrounded Napoleon 
III. and his wife, I had reason to believe that 
my narrative would be received without protest, 
and that no voice would be raised in an attempt 
to weaken the force of my disclosures. I was 
wrong, (a newspaper, the Gaulois, answered 
eachfof my arguments — containing, I will not 
say an attack on the Empress, but proofs of her 
bad influence on the politics of the Empire, and 
on the customs of the court — by an article 
which made a painful effort to restore, in favour 

13 



14 INTRODUCTION. 

of the fallen sovereign, false traditions which 
must crumble away before history. 

This defence, whose false simplicity could 
only have been inspired by some deep-laid plot, 
having been brought to my notice, I did not 
think worth while to answer, preferring to 
wait for the freedom of a book to expose its 
worthlessness to the public. 

I must add that this attack upon me was very 
unskilful : and those who made it will doubt- 
less regret having done so. 

It was not my intention to write a volume on 
the Empress Eugenie. I meant to confine my 
narrative to a few pages of a pamphlet, and, 
with a feeling of pity, to consign to darkness 
and silence U^ertain historical facts which bear 
directly on the wife of Napoleon III., and the 
responsibility of which, in spite of her flatterers, 
rests entirely on herself. 

The attack of the Gaulois prevents me from 
remaining longer silent, and compels me to 
state the facts, whether good or bad, in regard 
to the Empress Eugenie. After all, does she 
not belong to history t 



INTRODUCTION. 1 5 

Why dissemble, or why destroy, by an im- 
posed silence, the tie which binds her to the 
destinies of France ? Why set aside, in what 
concerns her, the impartial judgment of time, 
from which the queens who have preceded her 
at the Tuileries have not been exempt ? 

The Empress has been cruelly criticised in 
her public life, as well as in her affections of 
wife and mother. Doubtless this is true. But 
is this a reason for protecting her from facing 
the truth, even in her sorrow, even in her fall } 
I think not. 

/Has not the war of 1 870, which she instigated, 
left in its wake wives and mothers whose grief 
is great and whose memories are drowned in 
tears } And can there be found, in any part of 
the world, do we find here, a writer to bemoan 
in poetry or prose the sorrow of these women 
who, albeit they were not empresses, are no less 
worthy of our sympathy and of our solicitude } 

I realise all the folly of such a discussion ; so 
I will leave it, and taking up one by one the 
articles in the Ganlois, I will answer them. 

Under date of the 22d of September, 1890, 



1 6 INTRODUCTION. 

with this heading, " The truth in regard to the 
departure of the Prince Imperial for Zululand," 
the Gaidois gives us an account of an interview 
which the prince had with his mother a few 
days before his departure. This interview is 
purely imaginary, and might be a chapter of a 
most romantic novel. The prince had but one 
desire, to get away from this mother who did 
not understand him, to cut loose from her 
absurd guardianship, which made him ridiculous 
in the eyes of the young men of his age and of 
his world, and to go across the sea to win that 
independence which was denied to him at home. 
In need of affection, in need of money, robbed 
even of an inheritance which had come to him 
from a relative, watched and lectured like a 
naughty child — he had a horror of his home, and 
he preferred to risk his future in a doubtful ad- 
venture, rather than spend his youth, full of 
life, intelligence, and goodness, in petty cavil- 
ling with the Empress. 

These are the facts. They are well known 
by all those who were near the Prince Impe- 
rial, and those who deny them try to deceive 



INTRODUCTION. 1 7 

France, where the prince was loved, — " Le petit 
Prince," as he was called, — and falsify history, 
which asks for facts and not fables. 

On the 4th of October, 1890, under the title, 
" The fable of Yung and its sequence at the 
Court of Napoleon III.," the Gatdois, taking 
up the article which I had just published in 
the Figaro, reproduces the same facts which 
had been previously set forth by me. But, dis- 
torting my account and giving a different ver- 
sion of it, it places the adventure of Home in 
i860, in order to prove its case and to rep- 
resent that the Empress asked the celebrated 
medium to allow her to press the hand of her 
dead sister, the Duchesse d'Albe. 

Moreover, the appearance of Home and not 
Yung at the Tuileries was in 1857, ^^d 3-S at 
that time the Duchesse d'Albe was still living, 
the Empress could not have made the demand 
in question, of the spirits. 

The letters which I have published on this 
subject and which date from September, 1857, 
and which are all written by the Minister of 
Foreign Affairs, give abundant proof of the 



1 8 INTRODUCTION. 

veracity of my statements, and demonstrate, 
moreover, that this American owed his success 
at court entirely to the Empress. Farther on 
the same paper, in relating the discomfiture of 
Home, taken at Biarritz in flagrante delicto for 
jugglery, informs us that the Emperor himself 
helped his discomfiture. But Napoleon III. 
that very evening was at Stuttgart, holding the 
famous interview with the Emperor of Russia. 
He could not at the same time be taking Home 
to task at Biarritz. A letter from M. Rothan, 
who was then the private secretary of the 
French legation at Stuttgart — the very one 
from which I quote in this book — leaves no , 
doubt as to the correctness of my statements. 
On the 22d of October, 1890, the Gaulois, 
under the head of " M. Emile Ollivier at the 
Tuileries," wrote the following lines which con- 
cerned me personally, since I was the only per- 
son at that time who had given to the public 
any account of the Second Empire. " Apart 
from facts made incontestable by their conse- 
quences, by the archives which remain to us, 
how can we accredit any absolute certainty to 



INTRODUCTION. 1 9 

historical traditions, when we see contemporary 
events travestied with a skill and talent which 
would make us doubt truth itself ? " 

A man must certainly possess great audacity 
to make such an attack on an author, after hav- 
ing himself published the historic untruths to 
which I have just referred. 

I would like to call the attention of the Gaic- 
lois to the fact that I claim neither skill nor 
talent in composing my narrative, — he used 
these words in a derogatory sense, — but that 
I am satisfied to remain independent so as to 
retain the right to be impartial. 

I would also like to call the attention of my 
critic to the fact that history wants facts and is 
not made up of cuttings from newspapers, nor 
of pretty fables composed to give pleasure to 
those who have played an important public 
role in life. Moreover, I shall be very curi- 
ous to see how the Gaulois will undertake to 
invalidate, after this, the letters of personages 
named below, and to persist in its denunciations, 
as in its affected goodwill. But I should never 
get through with this paper if I were obliged 



20 INTRODUCTION. 

to expose all its errors. I will only mention 
one more incident before closing a controversy 
which has been thrust upon me. 

We hear a great deal of the charity, of the 
generosity, of the Empress, and of her constant 
maternal solicitude for those who served her at 
the time of her power, and who have since been 
overcome by poverty, even by want. 

Now, would the reader like to know the ex- 
,tent of this solicitude, of this generosity, of 
this charity, which, in any case, whether false 
or real, so far as it has to do with strangers, 
might well have been expended on the poor 
little Prince Imperial 1 Read, then, the follow- 
ing letters, which came into my hands at the 
time when I published a few extracts from this 
book. They will determine the reader's opinion, 
without any necessity for a long commentary. 

Sir : — Having formerly been in the employ of the 
Emperor, I always read with interest whatever bears on 
the events which occurred at the Tuileries. I will tell 
you at once, without any mental reservation, that the 
Empress Eugenie can never be sufficiently punished for 
the wrong she has done to this country, as well as to her 
old servants, to whom she has never given a thought. 

She still has, however, sufficient wealth to do some- 



INTRODUCTION. 21 

thing, at least, for those who served the Emperor with so 
much devotion ; but no, not a thought, not a memory- 
even, has she for them. Yes, we believed in and loved 
the Emperor and the Prince Imperial, but we were sure 
we would be forgotten by the Empress, as we have been. 
Since 1870, a small capital, given with kind feeling, 
could have made long since an income which might 
have relieved a few unfortunate and faithful servants. 

Sir: — Doubtless the Empress did a great deal for 
many ungrateful ones, and I believe her character is 
well shown in what you say of her. She was, indeed, 
something of a comedian in what she did, a little exag- 
gerated ; as, for instance, when in the Chinese Museum 
at Fontainebleau, she went to the smoking-room with 
her ladies to smoke a few cigarettes ; but this, certainly, 
was no crime. What little shopkeeper but has some 
such diversion ? 

As to her heart, it was not of the best for a woman in 
her position ; there was no necessity for her to look into 
everything, even to the extent of interfering with the 
sovereigns and strangers who came to court, and to for- 
bid them to offer to her servants any fees ; and yet this 
is what she did. 

When she went travelling, she spent a great deal in 
trying to surpass every one in her bounty, but always 
with a desire to appear more generous than any one 
else. To-day, if the Empress ever has any idea of doing 
any good to her subjects, those who surround her pre- 
vent her from doing so. It is known that the Emperor 
intended to pension his attendants. If he did not do it, 
the Empress and those about her are responsible. For 
my part, shortly after the 4th of September, I found a 



22 INTRODUCTION. 

situation, which, thank God, has kept me from want ; 
but others were not so fortunate. 

I was devoted to their Majesties ; but when I see how 
little they have done for their servants, my devotion is 
somewhat lessened. 

A third letter also throws some light on the 
maternal affection of the Empress Eugenie, and 
represents her just as I have shown her to be 
in character, as well as in her relation to certain 
political questions. 

Sir : — ... Concerning the Prince Imperial, upon 
occasion of a great demonstration of affection, she would 
suddenly show a reserve which was almost icy. When 
the Prince happened to be present at dinner, sitting at 
the Emperor's right, and dessert would be offered him, 
he would first observe whether his mother was looking, 
and in that case would take but little, because she objected 
to his having sweetmeats. The Emperor often laughed 
at this little comedy. 

The young Prince, without doubt, was more petted by 
his father. The Empress always assumed towards him 
an air of great severity, and unfortunately it was, as you 
say, this lack of tenderness which was one of the causes 
which determined the poor young Prince to leave home, 
happy to be free from such exacting restraint. 

Proportionately as the Emperor was good to the boy 
and loved him dearly, the Empress was harsh with him. 
He did not feel at his ease in her presence. I can still 
see the Prince at Compi^gne in 1869. It was one night 
at the theatre and they were playing " La Consigne est 



INTRODUCTION. 23 

de Ronfler," At the part where the ordinary is taken 
with a colic, the Prince laughed so heartily that all near 
him were more amused at him than they were at the 
play. The Emperor was made doubly happy that night 
in seeing his son so gay. 

The Princess Mathilde was there, near the child, and 
she will recall this circumstance. 

I said to myself, as many others doubtless did, it is 
evident that the Empress is away. She was, in fact, at 
Suez. 

In regard to the defence of the temporal power of the 
Pope, and the inconsistency of the Empress, I will 
relate here an anecdote. It was at Saint-Cloud, before 
the events of Mentana. General Failly had called to 
receive his final instructions from the Emperor, who had 
kept him to breakfast. But lo, and behold, at table, 
in chatting with the Empress, he said that he was to 
take the train at Lyons at such a time, to arrive at Mar- 
seilles with his division. Whereupon the Empress ex- 
claimed, " But, General, you will miss your train, you 
must hurry off ; you barely have time to reach the 
station ! " In vain he pleaded that with the mail coach, 
which was at his command, there would be no delay ; 
he was obliged against his will to leave before he had 
finished his breakfast, having received permission to 
take with him a piece of bread and meat, which he 
laughingly devoured on his way down-stairs. 

Another fact: in 1859, after Magenta, M. Klein de 
Klenemberg, an ordinary, was ordered by the Emperor 
to bring to Paris the flags taken from the enemy. But 
on his arrival, instead of reporting at once at Saint- 
Cloud, he went home to make his toilet, so as to be pre- 
sentable to appear before the Empress. 



24 INTRODUCTION. 

When he was admitted to her Majesty's presence, he 
was not received as he expected. The Empress, scan- 
ning him from head to foot, said : " It is easy to see 
from your costume, sir, that you come from Italy. You 
neither smell of powder nor of the dust of the battlefield. 
When a man has the honour of bringing such splendid 
trophies, he should present himself at any hour and in 
any costume." 

She was probably alluding to those officers of former 
times, who would travel any distance and present them- 
selves covered with mud and dust, after having ridden 
down several horses. Such a scene would have been 
a little theatrical. 

It would certainly be unwise to attach to 
these different letters undue importance. How- 
ever, one fact cannot be denied ; they were 
written by old servants of the Tuileries, who all 
express for the Emperor and his son a profound 
admiration and deep gratitude. Why do they not 
express similar sentiments for the Empress .<* 
It is allowable to think that if the latter had 
been as kind as Napoleon III., the same homage 
which is given to the dead Emperor — who is 
consequently far from all affection and friend- 
ship — would go out as spontaneously to her. 

I have been stupidly attacked — I have an- 
swered the attack. And now a last word. It 



INTRODUCTION. 25 

was claimed at the time of the publication of 
some chapters of this book in the Figaro^ that I 
was writing under an assumed name, and even 
that I did not exist. 

I wish to inform those who have been inter- 
ested in me, and who will be farther disturbed 
by the publication of this volume, that I do exist. 
I have no noni de plimie, and I alone am respon- 
sible for this work which I offer to my readers. 

P. DE L. 
Paris, Januaiy., 1891. 



THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 



I. 

HER MARRIAGE. 

Less than a year after the proclamation of 
the Empire, Napoleon III. led to the altar 
of Notre Dame, Mile. Eugenie de Montijo ; 
and in making her the Empress of France, 
fulfilled the promise which he had made some 
time before. 

This marriage, which gave rise to so much 
gossip, to so much excitement, and to so many 
intrigues, led one of the most prominent states- 
men of that time to make a remark which may 
have been forgotten. 

While every one was saying of Napoleon 
III., " He is mad ; this union is a folly ! " the 
statesman in question summed up the situation 
without anger and without bitterness; and with- 
out himself suspecting it, perhaps, gave a psy- 
chological epitome of the Second Empire, in its 
present and future history, in the following 
words : — 

27 



28 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

V " This marriage," he said with a smile, " is a 
lovely poem ! " And then added, '' The Empe- 
ror rivals M. de Musset ; and his reign, I fear, 
will be but 'the song of a night.' " 

If this is not a just appreciation from the 
point of view of history, it must be admitted 
that it is not without interest to the chronicler. 

On the 30th of January, 1853, Napoleon III. 
married Mile, de Montijo, with a haste which was 
little understood by those who surrounded him, 
and less understood by those who with curiosity 
question the past. The Emperor was a sen- 
timentalist ; but we shall not find in his senti- 
mentality the reason for his haste in marrying 
Mile, de Montijo. Very susceptible to feminine 
charm, and accustomed to having his desires 
satisfied, he happened to fall in love with Mile, 
de Montijo ; and as she was the only woman he 
had ever loved or seemed to love who allowed 
him no liberties, but continually kept him at a 
distance, in order to gain his end he vowed he 
would marry her, without thinking of political 
consequences. 

It is also easy to believe that, after the 
dramatic events which had marked both his 
Presidency and his advent to the throne, the 
Emperor felt the need of domestic peace, of a 
sincere affection which would bring an element 



HER MARRIAGE. 29 

of joy into his life. This affection might have 
been given him by a different woman from Mile. j\ 
de Montijo, by some woman worthy by birth '^' 
to be his wife ; but I repeat, the Emperor did 
not love a king's daughter ; he loved an humble 
daughter of Spain, and he listened only to the 
promptings of his heart. Afterwards, when 
years had made this folly a distant memory, 
did he regret this outbreak of a passion which 
interested and perplexed all Europe } No one 
can tell. He evidently took into account, as 
any man would who weighs his love in the bal- 
ance, the difficulties which that union brought 
into his reign. 

But he was good, he was gallant, and he was 
a fatalist ; so he never complained, he never V.' 

wounded the heart of the Empress by any allu- 
sion whatever to what his friends called his .)f^ 
folly. cy^ 

Mile, de Montijo was a Spaniard, and, being 
such, was superstitious. One day, when quite 
a young girl, while out walking, she had met a ^ 

gypsy, who in return for alms told her her for- ^- ^..^\' - 
tune, and declared that she would be a queen. ^ 

Although she appeared to have attached but ^^^'^-^ 
little importance to this prediction, even after 
her marriage, it is certain that the gypsy's IM^ 

words had made an impression ; so that, having 



30 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE 

had opportunities to marry the highest digni- 
taries of her own country, first the Due d'Os- 
suna, who had asked her for her hand, next the 
Due de Sesto, then Due d'Alcanizes, with whom 
she was evidently taken, she refused the offer 
of the first, and silenced her own heart, which 
was in favor of the second. Feigning a great 
sympathy for France and the French, she de- 
clared her intention to marry no one but a 
Frenchman ; and without much fear of making 
a mistake, we may suppose that, once settled in 
France, face to face with the bachelor Emperor, 
whom she had been able to meet, she remem- 
bered the prediction of the gypsy, as well as 
the lovers, who, from a worldly standpoint or 
from her own inclination, she might have chosen, 
but whom she scorned. 

On his part, since the second of December 
the Emperor had not been without opportunities 
of an alliance appropriate to the rank which he 
had assumed. 

Certain young women who had rejected his 
attentions and his courtship when he was only 
a prince and something of an adventurer, such 
as the Duchess of Hamilton, daughter of the 
Grand Duchess Stephanie de Bade, his cousin, 
such as the Princess Mathile, also his cousin, 
were not without regrets at this time. The ad- 



HER MARRIAGE. 3 1 

venturer now had a crown in each hand, one 
for himself, the other for her whom he should 
make his wife. 

When he was only the Prince-President, the 
daughter of the Prince de Wagram had been 
offered to him, and at a house in the rue de la 
Rochefoucauld, the residence of Prince Wagram, 
a ball had been proposed in honour of Louis 
Napoleon Bonaparte, to arrange the prelimi- 
naries of a marriage. The President accepted 
the invitation of his host, and went to the ball 
given in his honour. But the young girl did not 
please him. Was he perhaps already in love 1 
Who knows } And having withdrawn, and never 
returning, the project ended there. Later he 
wished to marry Mile. Wagram to the Prince 
Jerome Napoleon ; but her father's answer was 
short : " I would have given my daughter," he 
said, " to the Prince-President ; but I refuse to 
give her to his cousin." There is pride in these 
words. But, alas ! do they not complete the 
fable of the Heron } 

The Prince de Wagram, in fact, gave his 
daughter's hand a short time after this incident 
to the Prince Joachim Murat. 
;' The most important alliance, from a political 
standpoint, that was talked of for Napoleon IIL, 
is without doubt that which was attempted with 
the house of Prussia. 



32 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

y -] There was some question of an alliance be- 
tween the Emperor and the Princess of Hohen- 
zollern, sister of the famous prince of that name 
who cost us the war of 1870. 

What determines the destiny of nations ? If 
he had been the brother-in-law of the Prince 
Leopold of Hohenzollern, it is certain that 
Napoleon III. would not have been interested 
in the affairs of Spain, and that the catastrophe 
which laid us low would never have existed. 
But what is the use to recriminate and to discuss 
what might have been } ' 

The hearts of kings, as well as those of ordi- 
nary men, are at the mercy of a beautiful face. 
La Fontaine's saying, "Love, Love, when you 
hold us in your grasp, it is time to say, farewell, 
Prudence ! " is true for all men, and no man is 
the master of his instincts, of his destiny. The 
marriage of the Emperor with Mile, de Montijo 
was not concluded without difficulty, and the 
disagreement to which it gave rise between 
Napoleon III. and his uncle, the old Jerome, is 
well known. 

Mile, de Montijo was extremely beautiful, with 
regular features and dark auburn hair, which she 
coloured artificially. The Emperor fell in love 
with her at first sight, and did not conceal his 
sentiments. 



HER MARRIAGE. 33 

Mile, de Montijo, invited with her mother to 
the hunt at Compiegne, fascinated him still more 
by the grace with which she rode. 

The Emperor, an admirable horseman, loved 
instinctively every one, whether man or woman, 
who rode well. What tales have been told of 
the sojourn of the future empress at Compiegne .<* 
But why reproduce them here, even though it 
be to deny them } 

I wish, however, to recall one incident, be- 
cause it has been mentioned by a man of talent, 
who is one of our best writers, M. de Goncourt. 

M. de Goncourt, being one night in a car- 
riage, had in front of him an old man, — it was 
the day after the declaration of war, I believe, — 
who was speaking of the Emperor, and was tell- 
ing the story of his marriage, pretending to 
have had the anecdote from de Morny, to whom 
Napoleon III. had himself confided it. 

One day — this is M. de Goncourt's story as 
told him by the traveller — the Emperor asked 
Mile, de Montijo in a tone of entreaty whether 
she had ever had a serious attachment. 

Mile, de Montijo answered, " I would deceive 
you, sire, if I did not confess that my heart has 
been touched, indeed, several times ; but I can 
assure you of one thing, that is, that I am still 
Mile, de Montijo." 



34 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

After this avowal, the Emperor had said, 
" Well, then, mademoiselle, you shall be Em- 
press." 

The anecdote may be true or false. No one 
will either affirm or question its authenticity. 
Such, however, as the Empress is represented 
to be by the notes in my possession would lead 
me to think it probable. In that case we can- 
not tell which to admire most, the simplicity of 
this lover before whom at this time the whole 
world trembled, or the brutal frankness of the 
maiden on whose brow, as in a dream, a diadem 
was descending. 

Having set aside all the objections made by 
his relatives, by his statesmen even, on the sub- 
ject of his marriage with Mile, de Montijo, the 
Emperor still had to overcome the opposition 
of his intimate friends, and especially that of 
their wives. 

A charming anecdote has been told me about 
the time previous to her engagement with the 
man before whom all Europe knelt with appar- 
ent deference, but really with a sullen and hostile 
feeling, when the lady who was to be Empress 
arrived at Compiegne. 

The women who were about the Emperor, and 
amongst whom were Mmes. Drouyn de Lhuys, 
de Fortoul, and Saint Arnaud, had resented the 



HER MARRIAGE. 35 

news that Napoleon III., fascinated by Mile, de 
Montijo, was very likely to marry her. All de- 
clared this marriage impossible, exclaiming that 
it could not be that the Emperor would marry 
this young girl ; and when she appeared among 
them, they treated her with scorn, and kept 
aloof from her. 

One day at Compiegne several of them con- 
cealed their dislike and animosity so little, that 
Mile, de Montijo was deeply hurt, and com- 
plained to the Emperor of the reception they 
had given her. The interview took place in the 
park, and not far from where Napoleon and his 
companion were. The enemies of the young 
girl were watching every motion and gesture of 
the sovereign. 

The Emperor listened, quietly smiling to his 
beautiful complainant. And when she had fin- 
ished speaking, he broke from a hedge several 
flexible green branches, and twisting them into 
a crown, put it coquettishly on the head of Mile, 
de Montijo, saying in a tone loud enough to be 
heard, "While waiting for the other." 

Not a word was said by the group of her 
critics, and from that time the Empress Eugenie 
was taken up by these women, who changed 
their tactics, and were as amiable and obsequi- 
ous to her as they had previously been scornful 
and arrogant. 



36 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

As to the remarks of the pohticians about 
him, the Emperor paid no attention to them. 
To all the objections which were made to him 
he listened, as he was in the habit of doing, 
his eyes downcast, his face impassive, and an- 
swered always in the following words : " I have 
decided to marry Mile, de Montijo, and I will 
marry her." 

By a singular coincidence, it was the same 
statesman, a diplomat, who had said, " The Em- 
peror rivals M. de Musset, and his reign will be 
but the song of a night," who was appointed by 
Napoleon III. to appear officially before Mile, 
de Montijo, who was then living in the Place Ven- 
dome, to announce to her that he had chosen 
her to be his wife, thereby giving their engage- 
ment an official character. This mission, how- 
ever, was not undertaken without some hesitation 
and discussion. 

The statesman in question, who was very in- 
timate with the Emperor, thought that before 
obeying him and making this step irrevocable, 
he would submit to the Emperor a few final 
objections. 

Napoleon III. answered him as he had 
answered others : " Mile, de Montijo shall be 
Empress ! " Then the diplomat showed his 
diplomacy. 



HER MARRIAGE. 37 

" In the presence of a thing which is to be 
done, sire, I express my opinion. But before 
an accompHshed fact, my habit is to keep si- 
lence ; and so I think perfect what cannot be 
prevented." 

And making a profound bow, he directed his 
steps to the Place Vendome, where we can 
easily believe he was well received. 

We have seen that the marriage of the Em- 
peror and of Mile, de Montijo was not accom- 
plished without astonishing and irritating the 
intimates of the court as well as the political 
world. The young girl, no less than her mother, 
moreover, was not ignorant of the surprise and 
opposition which she had aroused ; and when 
Madame de Montijo learned that her daughter 
was indeed to become Empress, a certain pang, 
a certain compassion and maternal solicitude, 
took possession of her on thinking how all 
would be reverential and attentive to her, but 
also how she, at the dawn of her life as wife 
and sovereign, would give occasion to so much 
hatred and jealousy. Mme. de Montijo was a 

friend of the Marquis de la R , who being 

the French Minister at Berlin, and a supporter 
of the Empire, was made senator, to the great 
regret of his family and of his friends in the 
Faubourg St. Germain. 



3 8 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

When the choice and decision of the Emperor 
were officially announced, she wrote a letter 
to the Marquis, into which she poured at once 
the joys and sorrows of her mother's heart. 

" I do not know," she said, " whether I should be 
happy or whether I should weep. How many mothers 
envy me, who could not understand the tears with whicli 
my eyes are filled. Eugenie is to be queen over your 
France, and, in spite of myself, I remember that with 
you queens have but little happiness. In spite of my- 
self, the thought of Marie Antoinette takes possession 
of me, and I wonder if my child may not have the same 
fate ! " 

As to Mile, de Montijo, she seemed to give 
but little thought to the enmity she had aroused. 
Absorbed in her joy, she shared it with her 

friends, amongst whom Miles, de la R , 

daughters of the Marquis, who became later two 
of her ladies in waiting, were the most eager to 
rejoice with her. Mile, de Montijo, moreover, 
remained, notwithstanding her high position, 
true to her sympathies. A short time before 
the official announcement of her engagement, 
and when the Emperor's determination was 
somewhat uncertain and known only to herself, 
had she not promised, and made her friends 
promise, that the first one who should obtain a 
high position would share it with the rest 1 



HER MARRIAGE. 39 

A few days after this compact, she went to 
the Hotel Rue du Bac, to find these friends and 
to announce to them that she was to be Em- 
press. As she was crossing the court of the 
hotel, the minister of Saxony, who was playing 
whist with the Marquis, saw her. 

He also had known the news since the pre- 
vious evening, and turning to the young girls, 
said, " Laugh with your friend to-day, young 
ladies, for to-morrow you will be obliged to 
treat her with deference and respect." 

As they all appeared amazed, " Mile, de Mon- 
tijo is to marry the Emperor," the diplomat 
added ; " but feign ignorance of the news, and 
let her have the pleasure of telling you her- 
self." 

After her marriage the Empress did not for- 
get these friends. She gathered them about 
her, and in writing to one of them she begs her 
to tutoyer her as she used to do, adding that 
she was lonely in the palace, that she was bored 
and chagrined by the ill-will which she felt 
about her. 

These are notes scattered on these pages as 
the hand of a sower scatters grain in a field. 
The seed germinates, grows, and turns gold in 
the June sunshine, ready for harvest. What 
poet, what novelist, what philosopher will read 



40 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE, 

these notes, will collect them, will use them — 
as the earth disposes of the wheat — to give 
them to the public in a book, a study, a novel, 
or a poem — which will be the book of the 
Empress Eugenie ? 



11. 

IN HER PRIVATE LIFE. 

In order better to understand and to know 
the Empress Eugenie, in order to judge her 
without prejudice, either favourably or other- 
wise, it will be necessary to consider her un- 
der two distinct heads ; under one treating her 
strictly as a woman, under the other as a sov- 
ereign. I will consider her in turn, first as one, 
and then as the other, with an impartiality 
from which I shall not depart in the course of 
this study. The pen portrait of the Empress 
Eugenie has already been drawn many times. 
But either those who have written of her have 
been too zealous friends, who were inspired by 
her memory, and their excessive" praise has not 
been listened to ; or else they have been bitter 
enemies, who in their polemics, in their pam- 
phlets, or in their extravagant attacks, have 
prejudiced to their cause the minds of calm and 
deliberate readers. 

Neither an enemy nor a friend, but claiming 
the right of the historian who is free to think 

41 



42 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

as he chooses, it is an easy task for me, with 
the help of the notes and the documents which 
I possess, to give to certain personages and 
certain events of the Second Empire their real 
physiognomy. 

If we took any notice of the gossip, more or 
less ill-natured, more or less justifiable in regard 
to the Empress Eugenie, we would have a curi- 
ous and very false idea of the real nature of 
this woman. 

Some — who are ignorant of facts — have 
represented her as wrong in her general policy, 
and depraved in her intimate relations ; others 
— impolitic and too ardent partisans — have 
made her out perfect, exempt from all faults, 
both in her public and private life. 

She was neither one nor the other. It 
would be easy in considering her as a woman to 
sum up her personality by a comparison, and 
to say that she was like those pretty little birds 
of sunny lands which pass beyond our reach ; 
and supplementing this simile by an analysis of 
her, we could add that morally she was unreli- 
able, a mixture of kindness and thoughtless 
indifference, of- frivolity and austerity without 
reason, of romantic sentimentality, and of com- 
mon sense, which was almost of the earth, 
earthy. 



IN HER PRIVATE LIFE. 43 

A close study of her character shows her to 
be often vague and incoherent. 

The Emperor, in his bhnd love, did not un- 
derstand her whom he had chosen for his wife, 
and he often seemed perplexed by her enig- 
matical character. 

From the first hours of their marriage he 
must have resented the independence of the 
young woman, — an independence from which 
he suffered to the last — and which was not in 
keeping with the manners and etiquette of a 
court. 

The natural exuberance of the Empress con- 
formed itself but little to this etiquette. Na- 
poleon III., who, realising the coldness with 
which the foreign courts received the announce- 
ment of his marriage, feared their criticism, ex- 
acted from his wife that she assume an attitude 
more conformable to the place which she had 
been called upon to fill. But the Empress was 
refractory, and it was really only after her voy- 
age to England, that she decided to establish at 
the Tuileries, for herself, as for all, certain rules 
relating to display, to conduct, and to speech, 
which left nothing to be desired, and which 
were in keeping with the conventionalities of 
court life. 

At Windsor she had been received with ex- 



44 T^^E EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

traordinary pomp, and the impression which 
this visit made on her was never to be effaced. 

However, even at Windsor, her carelessness, 
her thoughtlessness, very nearly put her in an 
awkward position, and almost justified the fun 
that was made of her scarcely imperial bear- 
ing. A few moments before she was to appear 
in the grand reception room in presence of the 
Queen, just before dinner, wishing to dress, she 
perceived with dismay, that the trunk which 
contained her dresses had not arrived. The Em- 
peror, on being informed of this contrete^nps, was 
much annoyed, and she herself was chagrined, 
but to no purpose. She was about to excuse 
herself, at Napoleon's suggestion, on the plea of 
a sudden indisposition caused by the fatigue 
of her journey, when one of her ladies came to 
her rescue. She offered the sovereign one of 
her costumes, a blue dress very simply made. 

It was not a time for hesitation, and so they 
set about altering the dress to fit her who was 
to wear it. Great ladies and maids went to 
work together with a will, and in a short time, 
the Empress, arrayed in the blue dress, with no 
ornament but flowers in her hair and on her 
waist and skirt, appeared before the Queen, and 
in her dazzling beauty, which was enhanced by 
the simplicity of her dress, made a great sensa- 



IN HER PRIVATE LIFE. 45 

tion. This fact evidently is only relatively 
significant. 

However, it marks and completes the succes- 
sion of public and private appearances which 
make up the ensemble of the character of the 
Empress Eugenie, and it gains importance from 
the place where it occurred. There is a very 
pretty note written by the Empress concerning 
that everlasting and despised question of eti- 
quette, which is connected with a charming 
anecdote. 

She was continually discussing this subject 
with the Emperor, and on one occasion she 
made a bet with him as to the place which the 
Maids of Honour of the Empress should occupy 
on the occasion of a festival. 

Now, such an occasion having arrived before 
the question had been decided, when she ap- 
peared with her suite, she remembered her 
recent discussion, and felt somewhat embar- 
rassed. 

Whereupon she passed to the Countess X 

the following words written in pencil : " I have 
a bet with the Emperor. At the Queen's balls, 
do the ladies in waiting sit or stand back of 
the Queen .'* " History would seem to prove 
that they concerned themselves but little at the 
Tuileries with social customs, and that the 



4^ THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

'' va-comine-je-te-pousse,'' for which the imperial 
court is so much criticised, was not without 
foundation. 

With a sudden impulse the Empress went 
out spontaneously to those who attracted her, 
showed them affection, showered attentions 
upon them ; then as suddenly, influenced by a 
word or by a gesture, would abandon them and 
appear henceforth to ignore them. Often her 
sympathy, as well as her antipathy, was shown 
without any apparent reason, and one would 
say that in acting thus she followed an im- 
pulse over which she had no control. 

Nevertheless, she was loyal, capable of de- 
votion, and it would be vain to seek for any 
premeditation, any feeling of egotism, or any 
purpose of deception in her apparent versatility. 

When she clasped the hand of a man or a 
woman, she was sincere, and when she prom- 
ised to be faithful in any attachment, she had 
no intention of being untrue ; for she herself 
believed, in perfectly good faith, in her decla- 
ration, forgetting continually the venturesome 
and somewhat vagrant fancies of her impulsive 
nature. 

The Emperor deplored this fickleness of the 
Empress in the choice of her friends : he gen- 



IN HER PRIVATE LIFE. 47 

erally had to bear the consequences ; and he 
tried his best to dissipate the enmity and dis- 
content to which she gave rise. 

Writing to one of his ministers who, up to 
that time having been made much of by the Em- 
press, was complaining of her coldness and her 
unexpected hostility, he excused her in the fol- 
lowing words, hoping thus to appease his friend, 
" You know that the Empress is very impulsive, 
but in reality she is fond of you." Only this ; 
nothing more. It would seem that in this 
short note the Emperor allows a sadness, a dis- 
couragement, to appear, pleader as he was of a 
hopeless cause ! 

However, — I repeat myself intentionally, — 
those who read these lines must not draw a 
wrong conclusion from this fact in regard to 
the Empress Eugenie. I cannot insist upon it 
too much, that this peculiarity did not indicate 
either hypocrisy or malice or disloyalty. 

Like a child who is carried away by a new 
toy, and who, growing tired of it, thought- 
lessly breaks it ; so she, a stranger to all in- 
trigue, to all premeditation, to any desire to 
annoy, turned away, unmoved and inexplicably, 
from this one or from that one on whom the 
evening before she had smiled, without giving 
any thought to the cruelty of her conduct, to 



48 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

the pain which she caused, or the enemy which 
she made thereby. 

Souvent femme varie. . . . The refrain of 
King Francois was absolutely applicable to the 
Empress, forever changing in her sensations 
as in her sentiments, elusive and indefinable 
almost, continually varying, both mentally and 
physically. 

The Empress was Spanish, and we may attrib- 
ute this peculiarity, without danger of being 
mistaken, to her origin. 

Exuberant to excess, whimsical, very roman- 
tic, yet at the same time practical, prosaic even, 
and mistress of herself ; honest, notwithstanding 
the thoughtlessness and vivacity of her imagina- 
tion, it is possible that she may have been given 
to affectation without realising it — if I were 
not afraid to use another word, and if I did not 
fear contempt for the form as well as the facts 
of this study, I would say she was given to 
comedy. Much evidence could be brought to 
prove this estimate of her, which, however, does 
not lessen the kindness and generosity with 
which she overwhelmed those who loved her, 
and which she sometimes showed even to her 
enemies. 

For with her romantic nature the Empress 
was lavish in her kindness, often even to those 



IN HER PRIVATE LIFE. 49 

whom she knew to be indifferent to her. A 
few letters will support this statement better 
than any argument. 

Urged by Mme. de M , the wife of one of 

the principal members of the Legitimist society, 
who, moreover, did not spare her, to give to her 
husband a diplomatic post, she received most 
graciously the request made of her, and could 
not rest until she had satisfied her applicant. 

I know well that Napoleon III., during his 
reign, obstinately cherished the hope of rallying 
to his dynasty the Faubourg St. Germain, and 
that he was very cordial to those of its repre- 
sentatives who came to him. But without ask- 
ing whether the Empress helped him in this 
ungrateful task, in the circumstance which we 
are considering, I do not think she was con- 
trolled by interested or political motives, and I 
am inclined to think it best to give her the 
benefit of the doubt as to her generosity. 

" Mme. de M ," she writes under date of Tuesday, 

December 6, " now wants the Hague. I wish the nom- 
inations might soon be announced." 

And she adds familiarly, with the confession 
of a woman annoyed and beset by the exactions 
of petitioners, — 

" Then I will be let alone." 



so THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

Seven days after this note she writes again, 
having succeeded in obtaining her application 
from the Emperor. 

"December i^th. 

" I saw Mme. de M on Sunday, and she appeared 

satisfied." 

But this is not all ; another petitioner pre- 
sents herself, also from the royalists. 

" As to Mme. de G ," continues the Empress, 

" God grant she may be pleased ; but so far she has not 
sent me a word of thanks. If you see her, especially if 
you see her husband, tell him that he does not owe his 
appointment entirely to personal merit. As to his grati- 
tude, I know what to expect ; as I look for none, I will 
not be disappointed." 

It would be a mistake to make a pretext of 
this letter and of the words which characterise 

it, — " Be sure to tell M. de G , that he does 

not owe his appointment entirely to personal 
merit," — to take up the cudgels again against 
the imperial administration, and to declare that 
Napoleon gave his embassies to those who were 

incapable of filling them. M. de G , whose 

name I do not give for reasons of propriety 
which will be appreciated, was, on the contrary, 
one of the most intelligent diplomats of the 
Second Empire. 



IN HER PRIl/ATE LIFE. 5 I 

The letter of the Empress reveals rather a 
sad condition of things, and throws light on 
the surroundings of the Emperor, and shows 
that if Napoleon III. and his wife sought to win 
sympathy for themselves, they were, on the con- 
trary, often but little repaid by those to whom 
they showed kindness, and whom they brought 
to the front. 

There is a delicate question which I approach 
with the greatest circumspection. Was the 
Empress as impassioned as she is represented, 
and was she faithful to the Emperor "^ 

I avow that to put such an interrogation 
point after the life of this woman is not to 
know her. However, as any hesitancy here 
would be misinterpreted, I will answer those 
who too willingly welcome calumny from what- 
ever source, and who judge too hastily from 
appearances which they are not in a position to 
estimate in their real significance and in their 
proper relation. 

Well, then, did the Empress have love affairs, 
and was she always in another sense the woman 
who, according to M. de Goncourt, answered 
the Emperor when she was a young girl in the 
significant words, " I have loved, but I am still 
Mile, de Montijo".? 

There must be on this subject no equivoca- 



52 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

tion, and my affirmation, supported by many 
impartial witnesses, by irrefutable facts, will be 
short. No ! the Empress had no such weak- 
ness. Yes ! the Empress remained a faithful 
slave to her duties as a wife. And now I will 
explain myself. 

There were, doubtless, in the midst of the in- 
coherent and brilliant life of the imperial court, 
times when the Empress appeared fascinated 
with some one besides her husband, by some 
attractive, handsome cavalier, like the hero of a 
novel, with winning words and Don-Juanesque 
designs. But those who observed her most 
closely in her troubled moments, in her mo- 
ments of suppressed enthusiasm, are unanimous 
in insisting on the platonic character of those 
infatuations, which were more mental than 
physical. 

" Her temperament," said one of the former 
intimate friends at the Tuileries, " suggested a 
fire among straw which burns and burns, mak- 
ing one think that everything would take fire 
and be consumed. Then, the very one who 
flattered himself that he had lit it, was aston- 
ished at the fictitious flame which had lighted 
and warmed him, and he would turn away, hav- 
ing perhaps given much, but received nothing ; 
having for consolation naught but the parody of 



IN HER PRIl^ATE LIFE. 53 

a famous sonnet." I have quoted literally the 
words of my interlocutor ; and if we consider 
the "ways " of the Empress in these sympa- 
thetic relations which she is reproached with, 
and which by a certain public would be looked 
upon as conjugal infidelity, it will be recognised 
that if the Emperor was jealous, he would have 
had in his jealousy, to speak vulgarly, more fear 
than injury. 

The Empress — again a repetition — was 
wonderfully beautiful, and like all pretty women, 
although a sovereign, and perhaps because she 
was a sovereign, liked to be flattered and to re- 
ceive attention. To use a modern expression, 
she flirted, and flirted even to the extreme, but 
always without endangering her honour, and, 
always unyielding, although romantic, she did 
not seek sensations other than were allowed to 
a woman by the most elementary standard of 
honour, and her heart was in no sense eager for 
emotion, as is that of tender and sentimental 
women. 

The Empress was neither tender, sentimen- 
tal, nor sensual. There was a natural hardness 
about her, which disinclined her to all revery ; 
and having excluded from her life a vision of 
real love, she was not easily made to forget her- 
self or those belonging to her. All that might 



54 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

be said or written on this subject to contradict 
this estimate of her will be but falsehood and 
calumny. On the other hand, the Empress 
loved the Emperor. When he was absent she 
longed for him ; and once, on the occasion of 
her birthday, did she not put her whole heart in 
this note when she wrote : 

''^November i\st. 
" This year again I have spent my birthday far away 
from the Emperor, which fact has made it a sad day ; 
but I hope soon to rejoin him." 

A peasant woman writing thus would never 
have a doubt expressed of her virtue. Why be 
suspicious of these words coming from the pen 
of a queen } If I believed one phrase attributed 
to the Empress Eugenie, which almost made a 
scandal, I should be inclined to think that, on 
the subject of morals, she had peculiar views ; 
but nothing indicates that she used the freedom 
which she seems to sanction. 

" As to young girls," she is reported to have 
said one evening at the Tuileries, " they cannot 
be too closely guarded or protected from danger 
and harm, and I continually watch them and 
their surroundings. As to married women, it 
is quite another matter, and I confess that I do 
not concern myself about them. I am indiffer- 
ent to their virtue as I am to their failings — 



IN HER PRIl^ATE LIFE. 55 

it is their own affair. They know enough to 
understand and to protect themselves. And, 
besides, have they not their husbands to defend 
them or to watch over them .'' " 

This declaration, a little broad, I repeat, was 
wrongly interpreted, and did injustice to her 
who expressed it. But it proves nothing, and 
it would be unjust to use it to tarnish the char- 
acter of its author. 

Let us abandon, then, these insinuations, these 
ill-disposed suppositions, and let us try to look 
at things as they are. 

The Empress was frivolous, without doubt ; but 
she maintained her good character. Brought up 
in surroundings very different from those of a 
court, she never had the dignity which is taught 
from the cradle to women destined to reign. 
She thought sincerely, and without any reser- 
vation, that she was entitled to enjoy the life 
which was made for her, and she cared very 
little for her reputation in rousing in the men 
about her sentiments which flattered her vanity. 
She had — and this is not one of her least 
marked characteristics — an extreme curiosity 
to investigate the human heart. And the adu- 
lation which she aroused interested her, as she 
would have been interested and stirred by a 
novel if she had been more susceptible to emo- 



56 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

tion and sentimentality. She was a conqueror, 
and she amused herself with the sentiments 
which she inspired, as a victor might play with 
the armies which oppose him. 

■ She liked to use her power as a woman, as 
well as her power as a sovereign ; -she liked to 
have adventures, to encounter perils from which 
she escaped, and which she forgot, as a ship for- 
gets the rough sea when she reaches her port 
in safety. In a word, she was idolized. She 
knew that she was adored, and while she pas- 
sively received homage, she thought, nai'vely, 
that she was making friends whose only wish 
was to serve and to love her. 

Thus she deceived many, and much ill-will 
originated in one of her beautiful glances, of 
which she was lavish, and which many found 
fault with for leaving unkept the promises 
they made. Besides all this, the Empress was 
fond of discussion and argument, and she 
gladly sought the society of men capable by 
their cleverness of interesting her. Knowing 
well that nothing can be accomplished without 
some pains, before conversing with a learned 
man, whether an author or an artist, or even 
with a politician, she studied him, and decided 
what she had better say to conquer him. She 
put forth every effort then to attract him by 



IN HER PRIVATE LIFE. 5/ 

the charm of her person as well as by her con- 
versation ; and, when she had fascinated him 
completely, and, according to her own expression, 
'' had found his homage agreeable and amus- 
ing, she would look at him tenderly," and when 
she knew that she had made his heart beat 
violently, she would stop short the poem or the 
romance just begun, and write at the bottom 
of the page. The end. 

This was imprudent, foolish, little in keeping 
with the dignity which she should have had ; it 
was, perhaps, also cruel ; but what pretty woman ^j ^' 
would condemn the Empress Eugenie for this ? 5 
What pretty woman would dare to say that she 
has not done the same ? And I add, what man 
in love has not been the victim of just such 
feminine perfidy, and has revenged himself by 
slandering her who has caused him to suffer ? 
The venial sin of a peasant, is it a mortal sin , 

in a queen ? 

\ Although she was very intelligent, the 
Empress Eugenie did not have that absolute 
influence over the Emperor which is still gen- 
erally attributed to her, based on reports more 
imaginary than real. It is a singular fact that 
Napoleon III. allowed himself to be too often 
controlled by his wife in matters pertaining to 



58 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

his foreign policy, and yet was entirely inde- 
pendent of her influence in his home policy. 

When I study the political role of the Em- 
press Eugenie, I will return to this subject. At 
present I will consider the cleverness of the 
Empress in her intimate relations ; and this 
cleverness showed itself in such a misleading 
manner, that one scarcely knows how to define 
it. In her actions, in her words, the Empress 
was often so bizarre as to astonish those who 
observed her. 

(All of her mental qualities are especially 
manifest in her letters, and it is in her letters 
that we will search for them. } 

It would seem that with her the woman who 
acted was not the woman who thought. With 
a mind but little cultivated, lacking balance 
and experience, notwithstanding her apparent 
refinement, the Empress, who had the gift of 
assimilating, knew admirably well hov/ to give 
intellectual change to those who were aware of 
the weakness of her supply, by calling her prodi- 
gious memory to her aid, when she felt the need 
of the resources which her previous study could 
not furnish her. Moreover, she was a charm- 
ing narrator, in spite of the rather harsh tone 
of her voice ; and, having a taste for reading 
and the theatre, she enjoyed repeating to her 



77^ HER PRIVATE LIFE. 59 

friends the book she had read or the play she 
had seen. 1 

One could, at such times, observe the won> 
derful development of her memory ; for in her 
account she would not omit a characteristic 
feature of the book, not an incident, not a single 
word of the comedy or the tragedy. Did she 
realise that, with her, facts had to take the place 
of experience } Perhaps ! However this may be, 
she missed no opportunity of showing that she 
was interested in literature and in art ; and in 
her writings there is considerable evidence of 
an unacknowledged effort, if I may be pardoned 
the expression, to be a brilliant narrator. 

In art the Empress was, indeed, more than an 
amateur. She was a connoisseur ; and I have 
seen crayon portraits by her which left nothing 
to be desired in their execution. 

This taste for drawing led her to wish to 
compete publicly for the building of one of the 
great monuments of Paris, then being sketched 
— the new opera house. She drew a plan, 
exhibited it under an assumed name, and was 
much amused by the venture. 

Her plan, I am told, was not so devoid of 
merit as one might suppose, and the Empress 
was much embarrassed when it was decided to 
exhibit it. . 



6o THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

Her most cruel enemies will admit that al- 
though she was an Empress, she could not have 
every accomplishment. So being entirely igno- 
rant of architecture, she was obliged for the 
technical carrying out of her plan to resort to 
the advice and practical assistance of a trained 
architect. 

The note in which she claims this advice, and 
which she wrote to a statesman, who alone was 
in her confidence, is very graceful : — 

" Decidedly," she writes, " send me your young archi- 
tect to express architecturally my poor sketch. Also 
send me the dimensions and plan of the land which has 
been given to my colleagues. 

It would be impossible to put more grace into 
the realisation of a whim ; and I leave to the 
ill-natured all criticism or raillery. 

'In her conversation — although often fascinat- 
ing, as I have said — the Empress was some- 
what given to wild tales, and we should not 
judge of her balance of mind by scraps of her 
conversation. The character of her mind is en- 
tirely revealed in her letters ; and if some of 
them are silly, as are most letters of pretty 
women, others reveal an unusual intelligence ; 
others, to more intimate friends, show a philo- 
sophic turn which often recurs in the corre- 



IN HER PRIVATE LIFE. 6l 

spondence of the Empress, — a mixture of scepti- 
cism, of sadness, and of joy, which she had felt 
amidst the preoccupations, the intrigues, the 
hostilities which existed previous to her mar- 
riage, and which did not cease to trouble her 
even after her accession to the throne. 

Having been very earnestly entreated to in- 
duce one of her protegees to marry a very high 

dignitary. Due de , she hesitated to make a 

duchess of the girl ; and the following words 
which the situation inspired will not fail by 
their bitterness to excite some astonishment: — 

" I find that one pays too dearly for greatness," she 
says, "to urge her to take this step." / 

And yet the Empress Eugenie wrote these 
words at one of the purest, proudest, and happi- 
est moments of her life. 

She had delicate and subtle thoughts, which 
she expressed in a manner altogether French. 

From Eaux-Bonnes she writes to a friend who 
was spending the season at Vichy : — 

" I am not surprised at your impression of Vichy. It 
is the same that one feels in any watering-place where 
one goes merely for health. The collection of suffering 
human beings in such a small place makes one sad. 

" I have felt the same thing here, especially the first 
days of my stay ; for, after all, we get used to every- 
thing, even to what is sad." 



/ 



62 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

And again the following letter, which was in- 
spired by a real trial, — by a temporary misun- 
derstanding between the Emperor and one of 
his statesmen of whom she was fond ; does it 
not contain a real knowledge of politics, as well 
as of the human heart ? 

Saint Sauveur, August 29, 1859. 

I am really distressed to see everything involved for 
the sake of nothing. Truly, I cannot imagine why you 
are no longer in the Emperor's confidence. The griev- 
ances of which he speaks are old ones, and he has 
already expressed himself in regard to them. 

I remember when we were at Saint-Cloud, saying 

many times to M , that a verbal explanation has a 

great advantage over a written one ; the fact is, a hasty 
word is easily effaced if we can see the effect of it. But 
paper can only convey the idea, without the smile which 
accompanies it, and which modifies its harshness. What 
distresses me is, that we often feel obliged to maintain 
for the sake of pride what, in our heart, we really feel 
to be exaggerated. It is the duty of us women, then, to 
try to soothe rather than to excite. 

It would show ill-will and prejudice not to 
recognise the justness of the judgment and the 
charm of these lines, which need, however, to be 
explained, and which seem to sanction the part 
played by the Empress in foreign affairs. 

This letter was written after a difference of 
opinion which had arisen between the Emperor 



IN HER PRIVATE LIFE. 63 

and his Minister, of -.Foreign Affairs, after the 
Italian campaign, and when the question was 
raised of signing a treaty with Austria, putting 
an end to hostihties. The minister, who had a 
horror of half measures and hesitancy, after 
having found fault with the war in Italy, did 
not wish the Emperor to be reconciled with 
Francis Joseph until he had pushed his victo- 
rious march still further, even though we should 
have difficulty with the Berlin cabinet, which 
in that case would remain passive and acqui- 
escent, judging by appearances, and maintained 
that it was necessary, if not to take possession 
of Vienna, at least to reach her gates before 
declaring peace. 

The minister, who had been, I repeat, only 
half in favour of the war with Austria, and who 
feared to create on our frontiers a power almost 
equal to ours in unifying Italy, the situation 
having become irremediable, wished it to be 
completed. 

There were between him and the Emperor on 
this question various discussions, then a serious 
difference of opinion, and finally an open rup- 
ture. It was then that the Empress appeared 
on the scene and restored peace and the old 
friendly relations between them. At heart she 
had agreed with the minister on the inoppor- 



64 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

tuneness of this war, but she was controlled by 
an entirely different motive. 

In allowing Victor Emmanuel to play with 
Italy, as with a snow-ball, to destroy, for the 
sake of centralisation, the different states into 
which it was divided, the Empress, who was 
very devout and a great papist, thought with in- 
dignation that the day would come — and that 
day has come — when Italy, in order to be a unit, 
would only have the Pontifical States to conquer, 
would dispossess the Holy Father, as she had 
the petty kings, and so make Rome her capital. 
She would have wished the Emperor to resist 
the attractiofi which Victor Emmanuel and his 
policy had for him ; and although she knew the 
moral servitude of Napoleon with regard to 
Italy, she would have wished him to free himself 
even at the risk of personal danger, which her 
faith in his imperial star led her to think but 
little imminent. 

The Emperor resisted her influence. True 
to his word, the war with Austria was the reali- 
sation of a promise. ; 

One year before these events occurred, in the 
course of a journey which she made with the 
Emperor in the west of France, the Empress, 
who had been made to fear some hostile man- 
ifestation during her trip through Brittany, 



IN HER PRIVATE LIFE. 65 

summed up her impressions in an enthusiastic 
letter which shows all the vivacity of her ima- 
gination — of that imagination which went from 
intellectual to material things by a bound, min- 
gling continually poetry and prose, the ideal 
with what was of the earth, earthy. 

Brest, August 10, 185S. 
Here we are at Brest, regretting our charming hosts 
of Cherbourg, whom we would have liked to bring with 
us ; and I am sure that a view of this beautiful port 
would have compensated you even for the seasickness. 
I wish I could describe this place to you ; but I am not 
gifted with that talent, as was Sir Walter Scott, and I 
would be afraid to lessen your appreciation of this ram- 
part of France. I will content myself with saying that 
our reception was as warm as possible, and that the 
Bretons, as well as the Normans, cheered us with all 
their hearts. Our first stopping-place in this country 
which is supposed to be hostile to us, was a real triumph ; 
for my part I am deeply touched by it. Yesterday when 
we arrived I was exhausted, for the engine of the 
Bretagne made such a noise that we did not close our 
eyes, and when we arrived, we had to stand three hours 
to see the procession, and after that there was a big 
dinner. But as God always gives strength to those who 
need it, I am entirely rested this morning, and ready to 
begin again. 

Then later, in a state of depression, overcome 
by a sadness which the public would never sus- 
pect in the gay world of the Tuileries, she gives 



66 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

way to a fearful attack of the blues, to dispel 

which, she summoned to her those who were 

called the cocodettes, chief among whom was 

Madame de Metternich. 

" I have just had news from China," she writes from 
Saint Cloud, under date of the ist of November, i860. 
" Our victory fills me with joy ; there, as everywhere, our 
gallant soldiers have done their duty." 

And she adds with bitterness, — 

" I did not think that I was still capable of feeling 
anything so deeply ; but joy, as well as pain, hurts when 
one is as exhausted as I am." 

Still a prey to the blues, in another letter she 
shows still more her state of mind: — 

*' The doctors wish to cure the body before healing the 
soul, and that is impossible. 

Would not one imagine that this was the cry 
of a heroine of a novel, who was weeping over her 
abandonment, her broken idol ? And yet what 
dream could be more beautiful than that of this 
woman .'* what heart could be more fully satisfied 
than hers ? 

I said in the beginning of this work that the 
Empress was versatile, that her enthusiastic 
nature led her to two extremes ; and the pre- 
ceding letters prove the correctness of my state- 
ment. These letters, although ponderous in 



IN HER PRIVATE LIFE. 67 

their style, show such a variety of feelings and 
of sentiments, that they mislead the observer ; 
and, everything considered, they should only be 
looked upon — and this will not lessen their 
charm — as a spontaneous and versatile ex- 
pression of a mind always on the alert, and 
upon whom hours and circumstances, sometimes 
happy, sometimes sad, make an impression, which 
is not deep, however, but is easily effaced by the 
hours, by the circumstances, which succeed them. 

What I have just said could have for title 
"The Invisible Empress." The visible Empress 
— not to the public, but to those who lived her 
life — is not less enigmatical. . 

Contrary to a generally accepted opinion, and 
contrary also to the natural tendencies of Napo- 
leon III., the Empress was not as extravagant 
as she is represented to be. Indeed, she was 
rather calculating, and had most rigid ideas of 
economy. The luxury at the Tuileries was 
especially in the Empress's surroundings. As 
to the Empress herself, she was elegant, but 
simple in her taste ; indeed, too simple for the 
Emperor, and she did not conceal her horror of 
all extravagance. Every day she obliged the 
ladies of her suite to give a strict account of 
her own private affairs, and she allowed no one 
but herself to verify the bills of dressmakers 



68 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

and other tradespeople. She kept a strict ac- 
count, looked over the items with great exact- 
ness, and only paid the bills after she had 
examined them in detail. 

The Emperor was often obliged to take her 
to task on this subject. In a voyage which she 
made to Plombieres, on being told that the 
peasants who crowded her way, and who on 
their knees crossed themselves before her, were 
disappointed that she did not wear a crown like 
the Holy Virgin, he advised her to pay more 
attention to her way of dressing in future, re- 
minding her of what Napoleon I. said to Mme. 
de Valenc^ay, — 

" Make yourself beautiful, Madame, when you 
accompany the Empress. The people imagine 
you to be a saint, — which you are not, — do 
not undeceive them." 

On her part, she reproached the Emperor 
bitterly with his generosity. " Your uncle," she 
said one day, "only received ingratitude in re- 
turn for his indiscriminate giving. Do you wish 
to imitate him } And do you wish to be famous 
in the same way "^ To do good is well enough ; 
but do not overwhelm with kindness these peo- 
ple who flatter you because they fear you, and 
who would turn their backs on you in trouble." 

Is not this sentence, which is absolutely 



IN HER PRIVATE LIFE. 69 

authentic and literally true, eccentric, and does 
it not give a peculiar light on the inner life of 
the Tuileries ? 

Sincerely devout, this need of flirtation or 
coquetry, which made her so many enemies, 
was shown even in her devotions. In proof of 
which I cite the following note written to one 
of her faithful friends, after an interview which 
she had just had with the nuncio of the Pope. 

" I have just seen the nuncio," she writes. " I want 
very much to know what impression my conversation 
made on him. Try to find out." 

One would almost think this the anxious 
inquiry of a lover in regard to the secret feel- 
ings of his sweetheart. 

Her religion, mixed with superstition, quickly 
passed from the most useless to the most serious 
questions. 

In 1870, shortly before the plebiscitum, one 
Sunday as she was coming from mass, she 
stopped all of a sudden on the threshold of the 
Imperial . Chapel, opened a Bible, and, putting 
her finger on a page, hastened to read the verse 
thus chosen at haphazard. 

What verse was it "i No one will ever know. 
But those who were about her that day still 
remember how happy she seemed after this 
mystic rite. 



70 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

{ 

^" We will have a success — a brilliant suc- 
cess ! " she exclaimed. 

In good sooth, the success came ; but what a 
morrow was to follow it ! This the Holy Book 
forgot to reveal. 

In proportion as the Emperor was an indul- 
gent father, in that proportion did the Empress 
assume a severity towards her child which was 
almost cruel. She had but little maternal in- 
stinct ; and though she was proud of having a 
son, it must be said it was this lack of all ex- 
pression of affection, this coldness, from which 
resulted misunderstandings and trials of all 
kinds, which determined the poor young Prince, 
on reaching manhood, to try the venturesome 
expedition which proved fatal to him. 

Still, it is only right to do justice to the Em- 
press. She loved her son, even though it was 
in her own way, and she brought him up admir- 
ably. 

Thus, when he was very young, she saved 
him from being vain, when a visitor, with mis- 
taken kindness, wished to kiss the hand of the 
young Prince, by saying, " Nonsense ! he is only 
a child ; " and she drew to her side the imperial 
boy, protecting him from a servile adulation 
which, repeated or understood by the young 
Prince, might have given rise to a false pride, 
which she feared. 



IM HER PRIVATE LIFE. /I 

If she took pains to keep her son a child, in 
as great a degree she tried to bring out the in- 
dividuality of the Emperor. She was deferen- 
tial to him in public ; and even when she held 
court to her intimates, if Napoleon entered, she 
immediately rose, and treated him as she would 
on an official occasion. 

She also showed a charming solicitude for her 
imperial husband. She often deplored his ex- 
cessive work ; and those intimate reunions which 
she instituted, and for which she has been criti- 
cised, were inspired by a thoughtful affection 
for him. 

When any one told her of the criticisms and 
gossip to which she gave rise, she would shrug 
her shoulders, and with a vivacity which was 
natural to her, would say, " Really, do they find 
fault with our having a good time at the Tui- 
leries "^ It is as little as I can do to give some 
diversion to the poor Emperor, who is worried 
all day with politics, and to give him an oppor- 
tunity to see some pretty women." 

The above being repeated caused gossip ; the 
blue stockings did not forgive what she said 
about the " pretty women." These words, added 
to what she had said about married women, in- 
creased her reputation for frivolity. This frivol- 
ity, moreover, although more apparent than real, 



72 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

was made capital of by some of the women 
about her, and by Mmc. de Metternich in par- 
ticular, who appeared, during her stay at the 
Tuileries as ambassadress, to have been the evil 
genius of the imperial court, and to have tried 
to ruin the reputation of the Empress in the 
eyes of the public. If her husband had a pas- 
sion for the Empress, there is reason to believe 
that, for her part, Mme. de Metternich had 
never loved her. And a word she dropped one 
day proved that she harboured against her an 
unkind and treacherous feeling. 

It was at Fontainebleau, and Madame de Met- 
ternich having proposed to go to the races in 
short skirts so as to have more freedom, was de- 
lighted to have her suggestion enthusiastically 
received by the Empress, who, without reflection, 
thought this but a pleasant plan for amusement. 

Most of the women who were to belong to 
the party were equally pleased with the idea of 
short skirts, and all provided themselves accord- 
ingly. However, one of them was distressed 
to see the Empress of the French make an ex- 
hibition of herself in such an eccentric costume ; 
and, on realising the inconsistency of it, did not 
hesitate to speak of it to the instigator of this 
folly. 

Mme. de Metternich then appeared much sur- 
Drised. 



IN HER PRiyATE LIFE. 72> 

"What harm," she asked, "will the Empress 
do in going out with us thus ? " 

" None, doubtless," answered Mme. X ; 

" but I think this costume is lacking in good 
taste, and is not appropriate for a sovereign. 
Short skirts may do for us, but not for an Em- 
press." 

And she added as a final argument : " Would 
you advise your sovereign in Austria, my dear 
Pauline, to dress herself in such a way } " 

Mme. de Metternich, imprudently, then re- 
vealed what she thought. 

" Oh ! " she exclaimed, " that is another thing. 
Decidedly, no, I would not persuade the Em- 
press Elizabeth to go out in short skirts. But 
our empress is a royal princess, a real princess, 
whereas yours, my dear, is Mile, de Montijo." 
The phrase is cruel — atrociously so. It may 
be denied ; but I affirm that it was said, and 
that I repeat it literally. 

The Emperor, however, was not duped by 
the sympathy, more or less affected, of these 
foreigners who filled the ante-chamber and the 
drawing-room, and to whom, notwithstanding 
his opposition, the intimacy of the Tuileries 
was given up. 

He had an animated discussion on this subject 
one day with the Empress, who did not seem to 
realise her imprudence. 



74 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

" You admit to your friendship," he said, 
" a lot of people who wish us but little good, 
but who are so many spies. You heedlessly 
tell them a thousand things ; and Nigra, Met- 
ternich and many others only flatter you the 
better to learn your secrets. Be sure that every 
word you say is repeated by them at Vienna 
or at Turin. You trust them ; and, as a reward 
for your courtesy, these people would get all 
they can out of you." 

Events proved that the Emperor was right. 
But I repeat that he was continually at war with 
his wife as to her general deportment in her life 
as a sovereign ; and he was never able to make 
her adopt a satisfactory course. 

The frivolity of the Empress may be an ex- 
cuse for her. 

But little accustomed in her youth to the 
ways of the court, as I have already said, the 
monotonous existence of the Tuileries was a 
burden to her. With her ardent imagination 
she felt the need of diversion ; and we need not 
search elsewhere for the cause of her many in- 
consistencies, especially those which belong to 
the last years of her reign. From this lack of 
balance resulted a permanent disorganisation 
in the family life of the Tuileries, an aspect of 
gilded Bohemia in all that related to the court, 



IN HER PRIJ/ATE LIFE. 75 

and also a fatal and bad influence on the govern- 
ment itself. 

The Empress, moreover, at times would real- 
ise that the raillery and criticism which were 
the result of her conduct were injurious to her, 
and she deplored their manifestation. 

I give here a letter, the beautiful sentiment 
of which shows that she suffered from this 
criticism and raillery. She took part in a new 
amusement which had been imported to the 
Tuileries, — Charades, — which followed tab- 
leaux of women too scantily attired, and which 
caused a scandaj in the papers and in Parisian 
society. It is to be observed that at this time 
the Empire was at the height of its power. 

y July iph, i860. 

(^ I thank you for your nice letter. My health has 
been better during the last few days, but on leaving Fon- 
tainebleau I was ill in mind and body ; I admit that one 
reacted on the other, but the fact is I had fever and 
such a severe cold on my chest, that I was obliged to lie 
down in the daytime two days in succession, which, for 
me, is an unheard-of thing ; but time, the calm of Saint- 
Cloud, and a slight effort on my part have put me on 
my feet again. You will find me, then, almost well, and 
delighted to see you. 

Your philosophical reflections are very fine. The 
thing is to practise them. 

I can forgive the ill-will which has not hatred for its 
motive ; but when, by chance, I find people looking for 



y6 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

wrong where it does not exist, and tearing their neigh- 
bours to pieces en amateitr^ without rhyme or reason, I 
am overcome with sadness ; for I say to myself, one must 
be very wicked to find pleasure in wounding those who 
stretch out their hands to one ; for not only does every 
blow tell, but mistrust takes the place of all other senti- 
ments, and as the unknown feeling hides under the mask 
of friendship, we are suspicious of we know not what. 

This is why I was so sad during the last days that I 
was at Fontainebleau. That innocent charade exposed in 
the newspapers, and told with all the details which could 
only have been given by an eye-witness, — to see one's self 
given over to that ill-natured publicity of parties, or 
even to public curiosity by a friend ... or, at least, by 
a guest, is something which I cannot accustom myself 
to. Finally, I sum up all that I feel in the following 
words: My enemies will always find me fortified against 
them ! I cannot say as much for my friends. Add to 
all this my natural anxiety in regard to the health of my 
sister, who is much better, thank God, and you will 
understand why I was overcome by melancholy, against 
which I generally fight successfully. I will add for the 
benefit of those who, by their idle talk, would deprive 
us of the little time we have in which to enjoy freedom 
and fresh air, that if they knew how precious this time 
is to those who are condemned to the preoccupations of 
the present and to anxiety for the future, they would spare 
to us this oasis, where we try to forget that we must go 
ahead continually, notwithstanding the passions of some 
and the fears of others ! I have written you a very 
long letter to explain to you the tear in the corner of 
my eye which did not even fall. And in eight pages 
sprinkled with mistakes in spelling which give originality 



IN HER PRIVATE LIFE. 7/ 

to my letters, I have proved that I forget myself in 
writing to you. 

Any commentary would lessen the signifi- 
cance of this epistle. I leave it without com- 
ment to the credit of her who conceived and 
wrote it. 

Moreover, what could I add to it } The Em- 
press was a pretty woman. Let us take her 
as such, without expecting anything more of 
her than grace and beauty. 



III. 

SPIRITUALISM AT THE TUILERIES. 

A GOOD old crank, named Henry Delaage, 
who was one of the high priests of spiritualism 
under the Empire, and whom I knew during 
the last years of his life, often said to me that 
at the Tuileries " strange and wonderful things 
had happened ; " and he would mention the 
name of a man who was much talked of at that 
time, and who had the reputation of being an 
extraordinary medium. 

Henry Delaage, notwithstanding my entrea- 
ties, avoided any explanation of these spiritual 
manifestations, which had astonished the Em- 
peror and the court ; and it is only by persist- 
ent research that I have been able to collect 
some interesting facts on this subject. The 
name of the man cited by Henry Delaage is 
well known ; his name was Home, or Hume as 
it is still written by most of those who saw him 
at the Tuileries. But the facts which I am 
about to relate are not generally known. 

Who was Home, and where did he come 

78 



SPIRITUALISM AT THE TUILERIES. 79 

from ? It has never been definitely ascertained. 
He called himself an American ; and it has 
been conjectured that he came to France at 
one of the most important periods of the Impe- 
rial regime, not only to make the tables talk, 
but to carry into execution a deeper purpose ; 
and that he was actuated by political considera- 
tions, which, as we shall see, were linked to the 
events which followed his presence at court. 

Home, in a word, was in our midst not only 
as a magician, but as the secret agent of the 
Berlin cabinet, the members of which, reckon- 
ing with the dreamy character of the Emperor, 
and calculating on the eager, impulsive nature 
of the mobile Empress, attempted to use Home 
as an important factor in the grand operations 
of its projects. 

If, in fact, events did not seem to sanction 
this supposition, we would dismiss it as alto- 
gether whimsical. But it has been proved that 
(Home had for a time a real influence, if not 
over the Emperor, who was amused by him, 
at least over the Empress, who fell, entirely 
and passively, a ready victim to his power. 

It would, however, be absurd to attribute 
undue power to this foreigner ; and if it is 
legitimate to believe, with men whose memo- 
ries and affirmations cannot be doubted, that 



8o THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

Home disturbed for a while the Paris Cabinet, 
it is no less reasonable to conceive that he dis- 
appeared without having fulfilled his mission, 
without having altered an iota the policy which 
the Emperor followed at that time, and which 
he clung to with energetic obstinacy. 

However this may be, it adds a strange chap- 
ter of triumphant exoticism to the history of 
this period, which discloses how an adventurer 
forced his way into the Tuileries, and by the 
means of a charlatanism still inexplicable, im- 
posed his presence and his pretended science 
on an Emperor whose advice was sought by all 
Europe, on an Empress and a court whose clev- 
erness was proverbial. 

The women who surrounded the sovereign, 
according to an expression used by one of the 
ministers at that time, and marvellously appli- 
cable to their enthusiasm, " communed " with 
Home. It was a continual struggle amongst 
them as to who should claim him, who should 
exhibit him, on such an evening in her salofi, 
and be his willing slave. 

They thought of no one, talked of no one, 
but Home ; and this infatuation became so 
apparent and suspicious, that the public noticed 
it, and the French press, as well as the foreign 
press, took it up and commented on it severely. 



SPIRITUALISM AT THE TUILERIES. 8 1 

The Empress, who was the leader of this 
craze, was keenly criticised, and, as matters 
threatened to take a turn little worthy of her 
and those who were the instigators of this scan- 
dal, several statesmen came to the Emperor and 
told him of their dissatisfaction. The Emperor 
might have answered them, as he often did 
when they came to him with some new tale of 
the frivolity of his wife, and when they showed 
him the anxiety that her eccentricities caused 
them, by shrugging his shoulders and smiling 
knowingly ; but on this occasion he listened to 
them with unusual patience, and considered 
their complaints with some show of seriousness. 
He recognised the justice of their plea, and 
issued a secret edict which compelled Home to 
leave France, to which he never returned. 

With the absence of Home his almost fatal 
enchantment came to an end, — that mystical 
infatuation which had taken possession of the 
women of the court, and which, had it continued, 
would not have failed to give to the reunions at 
the Tuileries, and the principal official salons of 
the period, the aspect of an assembly of con- 
vulsionists. Not that the things which Home 
did were really so strange ; to-day we would be 
little surprised by them. But occurring at that 
period of time in our history, they could not 



82 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

fail to make a sensation. Since then we have 
become familiar with the manifestations of hyp- 
notism ; and while our knowledge of the science 
is still limited, and our wonder remains, yet the 
frequency of its exhibition has accustomed us to 
its presence as an accepted fact. 

At the time of the Empire there was no 
tenable theory of occult science, and what was 
known of magnetism from books was but a 
poor preparation to help one to realise its prac- 
tical issues. Hence, doubtless, the acclamation 
with which Home was received by that society 
to which he submitted his mysteries and to 
which he offered a new religion. 

Commonplace in appearance, what was strik- 
ing in Home was his intelligent and shrewd 
expression. 

His debut in the social circles of Paris was 

at a ball, at the house of Madame X , the 

wife of the first ambassador from Russia who 
was received in France after the Crimean War. 

Madame X , although separated from her 

husband and living alone, entertained a great 
deal, and especially in the official world. Before 
the dancing, the hostess, who had introduced 
him to her guests, asked him to give an exhi- 
bition of some kind. He did not need much 
pressing. Very soon the pictures and the fur- 



SPIRITUALISM AT THE TUILERIES. 83 

niture began to move ; the former swinging to 
right and left on their nails ; the latter changing 
place suddenly and by jerks. What I now state 
I can vouch for, as it is a faithful translitera- 
tion, almost, of a memoir which has been en- 
trusted to me ; and which forms part of the 
notes I have used for this book. Therefore I 
am free to renounce all personal responsibility, 
having no desire to be accused of naivetey or 
of complicity in the charlatanism of the hero of 
this cause. 

Having been presented to several of the 
most distinguished women at court. Home saw, 
with elation, the most fashionable salons, if not 
those most difficult of access, opened to him, 
one by one. 

He evidently schemed to be taken up by the 
wife of one of the most prominent minis- 
ters of the day, and having won the good will 
of her husband, he received permission to 
call, stating " that he would show his host 
most surprising things if he would allow him 
to have a seance at his house, and especially 
if he would promise not to cherish a scepti- 
cal attitude towards him." Consequently an 
evening party was arranged in honour of the 
American. The minister, however, did not 
yield easily to the influence of the spirits, 



84 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

which incurred Home's displeasure, and there 
was no manifestation. But at the salon of 

the Comtesse de B , and the Comte de 

M , he gave evidence of his mesmeric 

power. There, as at Madame X 's, they 

had, if not their money's worth, at least their 
curiosity satisfied. 

The tables moved, the candelabra flew to the 
ceiling, mysterious music was heard. The Em- 
. press, who was much perplexed at the recital 
of this occurrence told her by eye-witnesses of 
the scene, became eager to participate in the 
general astonishment. She asked a friend to 
bring the magician to see her, and everything 
was placed in readiness for a seance. 

In this manner did Home appear at the 
Tuileries, where, without being in the least in- 
timidated in the presence of the Emperor and 
his wife, he introduced his customary per- 
formance. 

When the moment for his exhibition had 
arrived, he ordered the lights to be turned 
down. He placed a round table in the middle 
of the room, which he covered with a cloth 
reaching to the ground, and having indicated 
to each one his or her place at the table, he 
invoked the spirit or spirits. But the table, 
notwithstanding his entreaties, his threats, re- 



SPIRITUALISM AT THE TUILERIES. 85 

mained motionless and silent. Then all of a 
sudden it spoke. " There are two incredulous 
persons present," it said, "the Comte Walew- 
ski and the Due de Bassano. They must leave 
the room before the spirit will be friendly." 

The Comte, as it happened, was the unbe- 
liever at whose house Home had not been 
able to produce any effect. As to the Due 
de Bassano, he did not conceal his aversion 
for the adventurer, who, on his part, avoided 
him. At the request of the Emperor, somewhat 
jokingly made, these gentlemen left the room, 
and Home began again. 

An accordeon placed under the table, but 
untouched by any hand, played unknown airs. 
Then, addressing himself to one of the ladies 
next him. Home asked her : — 

" Would you like, Madame, to touch the hand 
of some one you have loved and lost .'* " 

" I wish," said Madame X , "to touch the 

hand of my father." 

And slipping her hand under the table, she 
did not have to wait long. 

Very soon a cold humid hand touched hers, 
much to her dismay. 

The King of Bavaria, who had remained 
silent and attentive in a corner of the room, 
felt a grasp on his shoulder, and the breath 



86 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

of some one in his face. He did not hesi- 
tate subsequently, to acknowledge this ex- 
perience, and it was doubtless due to this 
fact — real or imaginary — that Home was re- 
ceived with so great eagerness at the Tuileries, 
and wherever the court was accustomed to 
meet. 

A more important event, which caused a 
great commotion, was the tragedy which oc- 
curred at Home's apartment shortly after his 
reception by the Empress. 

A charming man, the Marquis de B , was 

amongst Home's most ardent admirers, and he 
had often entreated him to make him see a 
young girl whom he had loved, and who had 
now been dead for some time. 

The American, after having ignored as far as 
possible the request of the Marquis, at last 
reluctantly consented to yield to his wish. 

" Come to my apartment to-morrow," he said, 
"and I will bring you into the presence of her 
whom you loved." 

At the hour agreed upon M. de B pre- 
sented himself at the medium's apartment, 
whereupon the latter led him into an adjoin- 
ing room and left him. What then occurred ? 
Only the hero of this adventure knew ; but he 
carried away with him the secret of his vision. 



SPIRITUALISM AT THE TUILERIES. ^7 

Did the Marquis de B see her whom he 

wished to see, or was he the victim (which is 
probably the case) of a frightful and mad dream ? 
Did his unbalanced mind suddenly go to pieces ? 

When Home entered the room, M. de B 

was lying at full length on the floor at the foot 
of the bed, and all sign of life was gone ; a 
sudden heart-failure had killed him. 

Those about the Emperor asked themselves, 
after this accident, if it were not time to put a 
stop to these movings of the spirit. But the 
Empress, who learned of the plot which was 
being planned against her protege\ interposed ; 
and Home more than ever was received at the 
court. 

He became so intimate that he was indispen- 
sable at the Tuileries ; and by the good nature 
with which the Emperor bore with him to please 
his wife, by the enthusiastic sympathy which 
she showed him, he succeeded in re-establishing 
his influence in a manner alarming to those who 
continued to look upon him as a skilful actor, 
an incomparable trickster. 

One day when the court was at Fontaine- 
bleau, — it was on a Sunday morning, — the 
Empress proposed to the ladies who accom- 
panied her to go with her and Home to a kiosk 
on the lake. They all agreed to this, and all, 



8S THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

as usual, placed themselves about a table which 
the American hastened to consult. Amongst 
the women present on this occasion were the 
Grande Duchesse Stephanie de Bade, the aunt 
of the Emperor, also her daughter, the Princess 
Marie, Duchess of Hamilton. The table, hav- 
ing been requested to talk, remained silent for 
a moment. But on the windows of the kiosk 
there was suddenly heard a deafening sound of 
hailstones falling with violence. Finally, as if 
by an order from Home, the spirit decided to 
break the silence ; and the frightened women, lis- 
tening attentively, heard the following words : — 

" What are you doing here ? It is Sunday. 
Your place is elsewhere. You should be at 
church." 

The Empress, who was very superstitious, 
arose to go, taking with her her friends. To- 
gether they, repaired hurriedly to perform their 
devotions. 

This occurrence is easily explained, says the 
memoirs, which I have consulted. Evidently 
Home, informed of the religious sentiments of 
the Empress by some one who knew them, put 
his knowledge to good account. After break- 
fast, this same day, they took the train for Paris. 

While they were still on the cars a magical 
scene took place. Home, who never left the 



SPIRITUALISM AT THE TUILERIES. 89 

Empress' side, and whose place was assigned 
him wherever she went, was seated in the middle 
of the drawing-room car, when suddenly the 
seats, the cushions, the ottomans, the tables, 
began to dance diabolically, knocking against 
the people and against each other. 

The Prince Imperial, a little fellow at the 
time, became frightened at this confusion ; and 
to protect him from being thumped about, as 
well as to comfort him, one of the ladies was 
obliged to take him in her arms, and to hold him 
the rest of the journey. 

These facts, which I have taken from the 
memoirs before alluded to, will seem highly im- 
probable to most of those who read them. 
However, he who related them, and from whom 
I quote them literally, was one of the most im- 
portant statesmen of the Empire, and neither 
his words nor his writings could be doubted. 

Neither was he a man to be easily imposed 
upon ; and his hostility to Home proves that he 
had no faith in his jugglery. , 

" Home," he says, '^ doubtless accomplished 
marvellous things. But there was nothing su- 
pernatural in his performances. He was simply 
a very skilful prestidigitator, and probably had 
machinery hidden away out of sight with which 
he wrought his strange wonders." 



90 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

It seems to me that herein lies the truth in 
regard to this would-be magician, this adven- 
turer, who had for a while such a real influence 
on the court of the Tuileries. 

From this time, moreover, M. Walewski, 
the minister of foreign affairs, notwithstanding 
the infatuation of the Empress, waged war to the 
utmost against the medium. He made up his 
mind to rid the palace of him ; and he urged the 
Emperor to put an end to the ridiculous state 
of things which existed at court. 

He writes to a person in whom the Empress 
had the greatest confidence these characteristic 
words : — 

" Act towards the Empress as I have advised you. 
You can only return the friendship she shows you by 
being useful to her ; and we can only be useful to her 
by telling her the truth, even if it displease her. I did 
not set the example of speaking to her, it is true, for I 
said nothing to her. I reproach myself with it all the 
more, because the scenes at Biarritz, which I have heard 
of since I left her, only confirm my fears." 

This letter alludes to the presence of Home 
everywhere with the Empress, and his familiar 
attitude towards her, which was fast becoming 
scandalous. An incident had added to the in- 
dignation of the minister. Home, whose influ- 
ence was becoming more strongly marked, was 



SPIRITUALISM AT THE TUILERIES. 9 1 

no longer satisfied with making the spirits talk 
of the every-day concerns of life ; he took it 
into his head to make them talk of politics 
even, expressing ideas and opinions absolutely 
opposed to those of the advisers of the Em- 
peror. 

One evening, for example, he ventured to 
make the mystic pencil trace these lines — it 
was just before the events in Italy. 

" The Emperor should declare war and deliver Italy 
from the Austrians." 

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, who was 
present at this scene, could not control his 
indignation. He was, as I have said elsewhere, 
opposed to war, and this adventurer, coming 
here to oppose his policy by his gibberish, ex- 
asperated him. 

He went in search of the Emperor the next 
day, and had a decided understanding with him. 

Notwithstanding this, the American, thanks 
to the protection of the Empress, retained his 
power for some time longer. And it was only 
after a stay at Biarritz, where Home very 
nearly compromised the Empress, and pro- 
voked an attack on him by several foreign 
papers, that the star of the medium began to 
set. 



92 - THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

" I am delighted to learn," writes the minister, " that 
Home is losing his power. But I hope that he will be 
caught in the act, for I believe him to be a prestidigi- 
tator, a juggler, in a word, an adventurer who has been 
clever enough to ingratiate himself at the Tuileries ; and 
I hope they will inflict upon him a severe punishment, 
and that he will be turned out ; for it is unpardonable to 
deceive so audaciously such a man as the Emperor ! 

" The foreign correspondence has taken notice of 
Home's presence at Biarritz, and the Belgian papers have 
been stopped on the frontier, because they speak disre- 
spectfully of the Empress. There are very strange rumours 
in Paris in regard to him. No one can understand how 
she can take into her intimacy a juggler, one who at 
best is an adventurer, who abuses her kindness in every 
way, and takes advantage of the intimacy allowed him." 

Home, who was very shrewd, and very intel- 
ligent, understood that all effort would be use- 
less in any attempt to defeat the purpose of the 
minister, and he was right in thinking so. The 
court having returned to Paris, he was never 
seen again at the Tuileries, and his memory 
vanished with him. 

When he died, in Germany I think, the good 
old fellow of whom I spoke at the beginning of 
this chapter, Henry Delaage, wept, and declared 
that he, whom he called his master, had come to 
visit him before he returned to the world of 
those spirits who had so often answered his 
questions. A little while after this he himself 



SPIRITUALISM AT THE TUILERIES. 93 

died, wretched in appearance, but leaving in his 
room, in the Rue Duphot, quite a fortune care- 
fully hidden away ; fifty thousand pounds in 
banknotes, pinned on the fronts of some shirts 
locked up in a chest, and some bills amounting 
to the respectable sum of several hundred thou- 
sand francs ! 

I never should have believed that trading in 
spirits could be so lucrative. 



IV. 

HER RELATION TO POLITICS. 

This ought to be, without doubt, one of the 
most important chapters on the Empress Eu- 
genie, partly on account of unknown facts 
which I will give for the first time to the public, 
partly from the letters on serious subjects writ- 
ten by several eminent persons, which I will 
here publish. 

These letters and these facts would have 
remained under the seal of the State for an in- 
definite period yet, had they been in its posses- 
sion. Readers and historians, therefore, will 
perhaps be grateful to me for having saved 
them the long waiting. 

The Empress, as I have already said, did 
not really show herself an Empress in the 
general discipline of the court until after her 
return from England. Her sojourn amongst 
our neighbours was an opportunity for her to 
observe and to learn, and she knew fairly well 
how to profit by the example she had before 
her eyes. 

94 



HER RELATION TO POLITICS. 95 

It must be admitted that she always was 
gracious and very much sought after, but it 
was not really until after her return to France 
that she actually held court. 
r The Empress, however, displayed through all 
her life an enthusiasm for everything Eng- 
lish, and her zeal in patronising everything 
English is not at all surprising, if one con- 
siders that she encountered from all the queens 
and princesses of Europe a cold politeness, 
whereas, amongst them all. Queen Victoria 
alone chose to show her a sisterly affection. 

I have already shown the peculiarities of the 
Empress in her private life. A singular fact, 
and one that reveals two distinct sides to her 
character, is, thatyust as she was inconsistent 
and frivolous among her friends, in that propor- 
tion did she show determination, definiteness, 
and logic in the questions of State which inter- 
ested her. (^Her politics, underneath which one 
finds a continually recurring religious idea or 
principle, did not deviate one inch during the 
seventeen years of her reign from a consistent 
and unvarying policy ; and by her cleverness, 
which was undoubtedly great, she often suc- 
ceeded in carrying out her own ideas, and in 
defeating those of the ministers, and sometimes 
even those of the Emperor. 



96 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

Those who have been accustomed from their 
faith in the traditions respecting her to think of 
the Empress as a ^'fauvettej' leaning back in a 
comfortable armchair called a throne, will be 
surprised at this description of her. What 
follows will not lessen their astonishment. 

And here we must ask a delicate question : 
Was the Empress loved by the court and the 
people } 

(Apparently she was loved by the court, but 
the sympathy which she aroused was a peculiar 
kind of sympathy, a compulsory sympathy, if I 
may use the word, not spontaneous, and always 
under the constraint of feary 

The Empress, in fact, the opposite of the 
Emperor, who had the gift of arousing devotion 
and enthusiasm, was feared by those who sur- 
rounded her. They were continually perplexed 
by her varying moods of feeling, did not know 
just how to act towards her, and found them- 
selves at a loss in expressing their affection, 
whether it was sincere or interested. 
''' As to the people, — the crowd that climbs 
lamp-posts and presses forward to the utmost 
limits when a king goes by, — we would say 
emphatically, no, the Empress was not loved by 
them. Notwithstanding her beauty, notwith- 
standing her grace, she never had any hold on 



HER RELATION TO POLITICS. 9/ 

the minds or the hearts of the people ; and just 
as the Emperor was very near to the people, 
at least during part of his reign, so she was 
always far distant from them. -' 

As a queen is never at any time of her life in 
direct contact with the people, it would be idle 
to speculate upon the cause of this semi-hos- 
tility which separated the Empress Eugenie 
from the French ; it would be still more use- 
less to try to find the reason of this in any of 
the political views of the Empress, which could 
not have been generally known. Three reasons, 
taken from the domain of trivialities, will ex- 
plain better than any others this hostile indif- 
ference of the massesy* (The Empress was a >^, 
stranger ; she was not the daughter of a king • 
and the people greeted her on her accession 
with a pun, which her name inspired. There is 
nothing paradoxical in all this, and it is well 
known that often in France the love or hatred 
of the mob is influenced by a bon mot. The 
Empress Eugenie had, however, glorious mo- 
ments, which were worth far more than the 
admiration of the crowd that was silent before 
her. She compelled this crowd to cheer her, 
when at Amiens, at the time of the cholera, she 
went to the hospital alone, having forbidden her 
women to follow her. On other occasions, how- 



98 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

ever, she showed a neglect of the poor which 
.will never be forgiven her. 

She was too fond of surrounding herself with 
foreign women, and she did not understand, or 
she would not understand, that from this fre- 
quent contact with strangers more or less suspi- 
ciously regarded by the public mind, resulted a 
discontent, a reproach, which reflected on her. 
I have just alluded to the conduct of the Em- 
press at the time of the cholera at Amiens. 
She was indeed brave, although she often de- 
clared, from coquetry, probably, that she was a 
coward. 

Her courage was strikingly exhibited on one 
occasion well known to contemporary history, 
which occurred during the attack of Orsini, cer- 
tain details of which have never been made 
known. 

On the evening of that event the Emperor 
was invited to a reunion which the Prince Napo- 
leon was giving at the Palais Royal, and in the 
course of which a new play by Augier was to 
be given. 

Either from presentiment, or from a pretty 
woman's caprice, the Empress, before the Em- 
peror left for the hunt, had begged him to 
accept the invitation of his cousin, instead of 
excusing himself and visiting the theatre, as he 



HER RELATION TO POLITICS. 99 

meant to do. When Napoleon returned she 
sent a friend to try to overcome his obstinacy, 
and to persuade him to yield the point. But in 
vain ; the Emperor was unyielding, and he, in 
turn, urged the Empress to accompany him. 

The rest is known. But what is not known 
is, that the instant the bomb exploded at the 
Opera House, a man, bareheaded and haggard- 
eyed, rushed to the door of the Imperial car- 
riage, opened it, and, with a dagger in his hand, 
stood on the step. 

Then the Empress screamed, sprang from her 
seat, and thew herself across her husband, whom 
she thus covered with her body, so protecting 
him instinctively, and with admirable courage, 
from being reached. But fortunately her fears 
were groundless. The armed man who had pre- 
sented himself was one of the two Alessandri 
brothers, — those faithfu]_Corsicans who never 
left the Emperor's side. He had been with his 
brother, on the lookout near the Opera, when 
Napoleon III. arrived, and had hastened to 
defend his sovereign. 

It was on his arm that the Emperor, who had 
received a slight wound on the cheek, and whose 
hat was knocked in, leaned, in getting out of the 
carriage. One horse was killed outright, and a 
sea of blood flooded the pavement. The Em- 



lOO THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

press, who that evening wore a dress of pink 
and white satin, was spotted with blood ; and 
when she appeared under the peristyle on the 
arm of the Emperor, and walked up the stairs 
leading to her box with that wet, red spot still 
upon her, the people observing it were overcome 
with emotion. /The woman, be she queen or 
peasant, who, in a tragic crisis spontaneously 
assumes such an attitude, encourages even the 
faint hearted, and is a woman in every sense of 
the word, supremely brave. 

When the Emperor, on horseback, was shot 
at by the pistol of Pianori, which was turned 
aside by Edgar Ney, it was one of the brothers 
Alessandri who seized the murderer ; and as, 
dagger in hand, he was about to make forever 
impossible any repetition of such an attempt, 
the Emperor stopped him, saying, " Do this man 
no harm ; be satisfied with having him arrested." 

A few moments after he rejoined the Empress 
in the Bois de Boulogne, to whom he narrated 
this tragic event, but she betrayed not a sign 
of emotion. 

Another anecdote, less serious, will again indi- 
cate the courage of this woman. 

During the visits she made to Biarritz she 
liked to go far out to sea ; and for the purpose 
of accommodating her whim a steamer was 



HER RELATION TO POUTICS. 10 1 

stationed at Bayonne during her entire stay. 
One afternoon a tempest overtook the little 
vessel, and it was approaching the port in a 
sorry plight when another difficulty presented 
itself, obstructing her safe arrival. The pilot 
declared that the sandbar which runs across the 
channel of Bayonne would prevent them from 
landing. 

A terrible squall was blowing, yet at this 
announcement the Empress did not flinch. 

She was calm, passing from one to the other, 
reassuring the women particularly who were 
with her, and who were trembling with fear. 
Notwithstanding their apparent danger, the 
pilot came to her and said, — 

" Madame, have courage ; we will be able to 
cross the bar." 

Th'e pilot gave orders to cross. When they 
got into the channel there was a terrible shock ; 
the vessel went aground, and if an enormous 
wave had not lifted her and carried her over, 
throwing her like a bundle on the other side, in 
all probability there would have occurred one of 
the most memorable shipwrecks in maritime 
annals. 

It was one o'clock in the morning when the 
steamer landed at the pier where the Emperor 
and a large crowd were waiting. The pilot, on 



t>7 



1 02 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

their arrival, made a charming and ingenuous 
remark, — a remark characteristic of the peo- 
ple. Bowing to the Emperor, he said, — 

" Sire, we were only able to cross because 
the Empress was on board. We never would 
have accomplished it but for her. She brought 
us good luck." 

" That is very well answered," said the Em- 
peror, "but do not repeat the experiment. You 
have had a narrow escape this time. If, per- 
chance, you had not ! " And he drew into his 
arms the Empress, who came towards him. 

These few details and anecdotes having been 
given to reveal more definitely the character of 
the Empress Eugenie, I will now take up, without 
further digression, the part she played in politics. 
f I have said that she took very little interest 
in home politics, and that her influence was 
principally felt in foreign affairs. Hence, it is 
necessary to divide into two parts her partici- 
pation in the affairs of the government. During 
the first years of her marriage, the Empress 
took but a relative and platonic interest in 
politics. It was only after the war in Italy 
that her influence made itself felt in the coun- 
cils of the Emperor, and that her taste for 
politics seems to have developed. Knowing, 



HER RELATION TO POLITICS. IO3 

however, the authority and competency with 
which she entered into public or private ques- 
tions, it is Hkely that for some time she had 
been observing and studying the situation, and 
was only waiting for a favourable opportunity to 
enter on the scene. 

( Having been named Regent at the time of 
the Italian campaign, and having given evidence 
of real ability, the Emperor consented to her 
initiation, at the request of one of the minis- 
ters of foreign affairs, and, henceforth, she was 
admitted to the councils. It was only after the 
appearance of a pamphlet headed, "The Pope 
and the Congress," signed by the Vicomte de 
La Guerronniere, which was one of the causes 
which prevented the representatives of the dif- 
ferent powers meeting in Paris, that she ceased 
to attend, nor did she return until the period of 
her second Regency. 

The home policy of the Empress Eugenie 
consisted in a love of absolute authority, in 
an obstinate anti-liberalism, which culminated 
almost brutally in 1869, when the spectre of a 
liberal Empire rose before her. Very jealous 
of the influence which any one might have over 
the Emperor, she had but one sole object in 
view — to keep away from the Tuileries those 
whose advice ran counter to hers ; to suppress 



I04 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

by every means in her power the men who sur- 
rounded the Emperor, and who appeared to 
impose their views on him. 

She failed sometimes in this daily struggle ; 
but she also had victories, and in the last hours 
of her Imperial reign she gave abundant proof 
of her supremacy. 

C Among those whom she hated, and whose 
tendencies troubled her most, were General 
Fleury and M. Emile Ollivier. The mere pres- 
ence of the General exasperated her. 

" I will find a way to get rid of him, and to 
deliver the Emperor from him," she had, said 
one day ; and, sure enough, she got rid of him 
by having him sent to Russia as an ambassador. 

Then she made a very characteristic re- 
mark, — 

" Now," she declared, " I will have such an 
influence over the Emperor that he will not be 
able to do anything without my knowing it." 

One after the other, M. de Morny, Comte 
Walewski, Marechal Ney, and M. Mocquart 
aroused her jealous fears. 

M. Rouher himself, whose absolutism she 
shared, as well as his re-actionary ideas, did not 
escape her suspicions, and often found himself 
exposed to her ill-nature or her open hostility. 

But of all these men, I repeat, it was Gen- 



HER RELATION TO POLITICS. 105 

eral Fleury who gave her the most anxiety. 
Her hatred followed him up to the last mo- 
ments of the Empire, and when, as ambassador 
at St. Petersburg, when the war broke out be- 
tween France and Prussia, the General insisted 
upon being recalled, and asked for an appoint- 
ment from the Emperor, according to the prom- 
ise which Napoleon had made him in case of 
unforeseen and grave events, she violently in- 
terposed, and arranged for his being still kept 
at a safe distance. 

The General, she knew, encouraged the Em- 
peror in his plans, that is to say, in that dream 
of liberalism which was never out of his mind, 
and which led him, without much entreaty, to 
the reforms of 1870. 

In her eyes the General was regarded as an 
enemy ; she looked upon him as such, and when, 
upon Ollivier's becoming minister, he mingled 
his voice with those that cheered for the new 
regime, she displayed such open indignation 
that the Emperor was obliged to interfere, and 
to compel her to write to his counsellor, if not 
a letter of apology, at least a few lines which 
would modify the attitude which she had taken. 

" I received on Sunday," writes General Fleury, in 
regard to this matter, " a letter from the Empress — very 
reasonable, very calm, and very sensible. She does not 



I06 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

complain of what has been done; but insists, justly 
enough, that the Emperor made all those concessions 
of his own free will. I think she is quite right to wish 
that the Emperor should get the credit of his own ideas. 
It is certain that his former counsellors must have urged 
him in the opposite direction, and that he must have had 
a strong will to keep from going with the reactionists." 

In another place General Fleury, in express- 
ing his views of the past events, outlines his 
thoughts in the following curious letter : — 

St. Petersburg, March 23. 
So far away as I am, seen from so great a distance, 
small mistakes seem of little importance. Whatever may 
be the agitation, whatever may be the difificulties which 
follow the peaceful revolution which has just been ac- 
complished, I look at only the final result, and that result 
is enormous. By his wise concessions, the Emperor has 
disarmed the small hostile monarchical parties. He has 
disarmed the accomplices of the Orleanists by making 
them ministers. He has established the future of his 
dynasty by making the succession transmissible ; in a 
word, he has won over to himself all those who wish 
to overthrow the Empire, by making himself the pro- 
tector of liberty, and of all interests opposed to dema- 
gogism ! I think this is a great feat accomplished, and 
that we owe a great debt to Emile Ollivier, who has been 
the flag around which liberals, parliamentarians, Or- 
leanists, and even Imperialists have rallied. 

When you see him, tell him he has my utmost devo- 
tion, and that, moreover, I am deeply grateful to him for 
the great service which he has rendered to the Empire, 
and to the country at large. 



HER RELATION TO POLITICS. 10/ 

The Emperor has shown a subHme cahn and self- 
abnegation. If he has conceded more than he intended, 
it is the fault of M. Rouher and his associates, who failed 
to notify him in time of the change of opinion in the 
country. Every one was tired of being of no importance, 
of not being able to come to any conclusion — hence the 
3,500,000 votes against the official candidates on which 
they had counted. It is evident that in the beginning of 
this new order of things, there will necessarily be mis- 
takes, exaggerations, much offended and wounded pride ; 
but what of it, if this encouragement, given to the ambi- 
tions and intelligence of the people, enables the Emperor 
to die with the assurance that his son shall inherit the 
throne. 

Here we can make no mistake. Our sovereign has 
lost none of his prestige. The Czar, his ministers, the 
political world, all understand that Napoleon is the last 
rampart against a revolution, and that the battle he is 
fighting is the last supreme effort of European mon- 
archy against an odious demagogism. 

These are my real sentiments. I wish my convictions 
could give you a little of my confidence in the future. I 
continue to be well received here. So long as I shall be 
allowed to remain at this centre of multifarious issues, I 
shall be glad to stay. In France I had no definite place. 
In Russia I can be of service. Moreover, this is the 
opinion of the Emperor, who wrote me by the last mail 
that he was very much pleased with the position I had 
taken, and that he thought I could be very useful to him 
at St. Petersburg. Therefore I think that for the pres- 
ent I shall not be recalled. I would add that I have 
heard of several kind things which M. Daru has said of 
me. The Tour d' Auvergne- has confirmed the reported 



I08 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

goodwill of the minister towards me. Contrary to your 
fears prompted by affection, I allow myself then to hope 
that I shall be permitted to finish the work which I have 
undertaken. If it were not in bad taste to speak of my- 
self, I should say that, politically, they would make a 
mistake to remove me too soon. 

I am glad to learn that all goes well with you, that 
you are satisfied, and that your relations are satisfactory. 
I am convinced that, with your intelligence, you will 
strengthen them and make them more intimate still. 
You can, in your salon^ render a service that no one else 
about the Empress is in a position to even attempt. 

Your valuable influence over the diplomatic corps, 
and your numerous and valuable connections, put you in 
a position to play an unusually useful part. In this 
again I think the Emperor shows his judgment, in giving 
you a position which brings you near the Empress. 

As to M. Emile Ollivier, the Empress knew 
well that since 1866 there had been negotia- 
tions between him and the Emperor, and that 
his visits at the Tuileries — clandestine visits 
it is true, but all the more suspicious in her 
eyes on that account — had commenced early 
in 1867. 

Two letters of Napoleon III., referring to 
these visits — which were made through a little 
side-door — are conclusive. 

January 8, 1867. 
As it might be annoying to M. Emile Ollivier to 
have any one know that he has been to see me, tell him 
to come to the Tuileries to-morrow, and enter by the little 



HER RELATION TO POLITICS. IO9 

side-door near the river, and to say to the usher Felix 
that he comes from the Comte Walewski ; it will not be 
necessary for him to give his name. 

The second letter, bearing the same date, 
countermands the orders given the " conspira- 
tor," and appoints a new rendezvous. 

" I beg of you to express to M. E. Ollivier how much 
I regret to have given him an appointment for Wed- 
nesday, having forgotten that I have a conference of 
ministers on that day from four to six o'clock. I beg 
of you to ask him to postpone his visit until Thursday at 
eight. I am much annoyed at this oversight on my 
part. . . ." 

The Empress conceived for him, in view of 
these facts, a deep hatred ; and although M. 
Emile Ollivier, later, in a note dated 1869, 
shows his sense of gratification at the gracious 
reception accorded him at the Tuileries, it re- 
mains no less certain, that it was with an 
avowed feeling of aversion the Empress saw 
him advance into the secret counsels of the 
Emperor. 

M. Ollivier's letter referred to is brief. 

Noveinber 9, 1869. 
Magne spoke very well in the Senate. I was much 
pleased with the Empress at Toulon ; she was charming, 
and I found her most affably disposed towards me. 

Daily difficulties resulted from this attitude 



no THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

of the Empress, from this hostility which she 
showed to different statesmen, and from her 
interference with the affairs of state. 

Long before these events, the Emperor had 
had occasion to contend with this irritating ten- 
dency ; and in a difference of opinion which one 
of his principal ministers had with M. Fould, in 
full council — the Empress having taken the 
side of the latter — Napoleon was obliged to 
interfere to bring about a general reconcilia- 
tion. 

A letter evoked by this circumstance from 
the Emperor is rather curious. 

I write you because I rely on your friendship to 
assist me in altering a condition of things which pains 
me deeply, on account of the sentiments which I enter- 
tain for you. I wish, in tlie first place, that you would 
approach the Empress, and by the conciliating attitude 
you would assume towards her bring to an end the mis- 
understanding between you. You know that the Em- 
press is very impulsive, but that at heart she is very fond 
of you ; one word of apology would adjust everything. 

Again, I also wish you to express to M. Fould a regret 
that you spoke to him as you did at the Council, in a way 
which was scarcely polite. 

When one is guilty of a breach of etiquette, it is only 
right to acknowledge it; it should not be humiliating to 
do so ; on the contrary, it is the part of a gentleman. 
Otherwise, it would be impossible for ministers to con- 
tinue amicably to administer the affairs of a nation. 



HER RELATION TO POLITICS. Ill 

I count on your magnanimity and tenderness of heart 
to bring about a general reconciliation. 

Is it necessary for me to tell you how genuine is my 
affection for you ? 

Despite the simple and somewhat scolding 
tone of this letter, we can see that Napoleon 
III. was annoyed by the interference of his 
wife, and that he tried, if not to make her ac- 
ceptable, at least to make her conduct tolerable, 
by mitigating as far as possible the feeling of 
wounded pride which she aroused whenever she 
tried to use her power. 

The antagonism which existed between the 
Prince Napoleon and the Empress is too well 
known to make it necessary to egiter into minute 
details touching it here. 

This antagonism, though somewhat modified 
by the sympathy which existed between the 
Empress and the Princess Clotilde, educed 
from that constrained and reserved affection a 
new element of duration and of life. 

The Princess Clotilde seldom accommodated 
herself, in her admitted austerity, to the co- 
quetry of her cousin ; and the latter, made 
defiant by the indifference of the Princess, — an 
indifference which was voluntary, and not to be 
concealed under the pretext of politeness, — 
irritated her still more. Besides, the opposite 



112 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

natures of Prince Napoleon and the Empress, 
differing fundamentally, could never agree. Both 
being easily excited by discussion, by ever-re- 
newed disagreements, their relation grew daily 
more bitter. The great and endless question, 
in politics, of a liberal government separated 
them still more, and the Empress did not allow 
the Prince to go near the Emperor without 
watching him like a spy. 

Much has been said about the Prince Napo- 
leon, and most of those who remember his dis- 
agreements at the Tuileries do not understand 
his motive, nor the end he had in view. It must 
be acknowledged that Prince Napoleon was one 
of the cleverest men of the century ; and if he 
can be accused of want of tact, this lack was 
often caused by the obstacles and vexatious 
opposition brought against his ideas, against 
his ardent and single-minded nature. 

I believe that he loved the Emperor, and was 
devoted to him ; the ideas of his cousin, on the 
internal policy of the government especially, not 
being unlike his own. If, during the reign of 
Napoleon III., he obstinately refused — and with 
an almost hostile opposition — to fold his hands, 
as the Empress required ; if he at times wore an 
inimical attitude, this attitude was owing more 
to the unceasing war waged against him, to the 



HER RELATION TO POLITICS. II3 

unjust suspicions which followed him, than to 
his own inmost feelings. 

The Prince had a clear vision where the 
affairs of the Empire were concerned. He pre- 
dicted its success, as he also foresaw its fail- 
ure ; and his unpopularity resulted not so much 
from his actions or theories made public as from 
their being misunderstood. 

Efforts were made to depreciate his impor- 
tance, when it would have been wiser and more 
judicious to have created an important position 
for him in keeping with his ability. He suf- 
fered indignity, attempts were made to bring his 
name into discredit, and to take from him all in- 
itiative, when it would have been more prudent 
to have allowed him liberty of action and the 
freedom of his opinions. 

His sense of personal dignity and self-appre- 
ciation would not permit him to accept the in- 
significant role offered to him ; and, while he 
consented to be subservient to the Emperor, it 
was impossible for him to submit to the patron- 
age of a woman who was certainly not justified 
in treating him with studied indifference. 

The Emperor deplored this misunderstand- 
ing, but dared not take any decided steps 
to end it, dreading, above all things, domestic 
broils and political disturbance. 



114 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

He was fond of the Prince, and had, to speak 
familiarly, a weakness for him. The friendly 
feelings of his cousin were not unknown to the 
Prince, and he was assured of the Emperor's 
goodwill ; but observing that, when he appeared 
at the Tuileries, he was received as a stranger 
with hauteur and reserve, he naturally held back 
and did not present himself unless officially, and 
on those solemn occasions when his absence 
would have excited comment. I have in my 
possession a letter from M. Charles Edmond or 
Choiegki, which is typical of the relations exist- 
ing between the Tuileries and the Palais Royal. 
It was inspired by an unfortunate remark which 
the Prince Napoleon let fall regarding the Im- 
perial policy, and by a letter from the Emperor 
published in the Moniteur, renouncing all claim 
to the words of his cousin. This letter, ad- 
dressed to a minister, I will reproduce without 
partiality to either side. Its contents will put 
the reader in a position to judge of the senti- 
ments which animated the different parties, 
better than any narrative of mine. 

Paris, March 22. 

My dear Friend, — I will state to you, without any 

waste of time, the result of the measures which I adopted 

after our conversation of last evening. The effect of the 

letter in this morning's Moniteur was like a stroke of 



HER RELATION TO POLITICS. US 

lightning. A short paragraph in the Moiiiteur would 
have sufficed to admit that the grievances which rankled 
him were legitimate. Decidedly he has overshot the 
mark. At the Palais Royal, there is no doubt as to 
"the hand that struck the blow," and it is generally un- 
derstood that the projectile was thrown by the vengeance 
of M. Billault. One tries in vain to conceal one's exas- 
peration, but it escapes nevertheless, it gnaws within, it 
burns. The consequences of this excitement, of this 
mental torture, will be deplorable for the harmony of 
the situation in general, and for our cause in particular. 
The enemies of the dynasty will be the only ones to re- 
joice at it ; they aspire, they discuss, they drink in this 
poisonous beverage which holds discord in solution, and 
with which the Imperial family apparently wish to quench 
their thirst. The remarks might have been modified, I 
admit; but, I ask, would it have been possible to have 
foreseen the consequences the day before they were 
uttered ? You remember our conversation ; it revolved 
around two points ; to abstain from any attack on Aus- 
tria, and to respect the Catholic party on account of its 
noble attitude towards the Polish question. These two 
ends were both attained. Of the Emperor Alexander 
there was no question, to my great regret and disappoint- 
ment, I admit ; otherwise nothing would have been easier 
than to avoid any inconvenience of personal attack, while 
extending the horizon of the discourse at the same time. 
The truth itself would have been all-sufficient. Nicolas 
was a cruel man; he rejoiced in the suffering of those 
whom he regarded as his enemies. But his successor is 
not of the same stamp. He has a human heart; the 
freeing of the serfs must be accredited to him, Alexan- 
der is different, yes, he is good, he is magnanimous, as 



Il6 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

M. Billault says, he is generous ; but his attitude towards 
Poland is such that this man, gentle, good, and magnani- 
mous, finds himself condemned to even surpass, towards 
us, his father's tyranny. Put Saint Vincent de Paul on 
the throne of Russia, on the condition that he keep 
Poland at any cost, and the saint would quickly turn into 
a cruel wretch. Place the crown of Russia on an angel's 
head and the angel would accomplish in Poland the work 
of a demon. So it is that both from the French and 
philosophical point of view, and to our great advantage, 
we could have shown the attitude of any Russian sover- 
eign towards Poland. On the other hand, if the speech 
has caused trouble to the government, he who made it is 
not the only guilty one. What prevented the Emperor 
from having his brother give it to him in full the evening 
before, from discussing it with him, from correcting it, 
nay, more, from dictating it to his cousin from beginning 
to end? Has the spirited and extravagant language of 
the Prince Napoleon never been heard until now.? Has 
not the Prince always been willing to follow step by step 
every line of conduct which has been marked out for him 
in advance ? No one knows the Prince Napoleon better 
than myself, and I maintain that he has always shown 
every inclination to carry out all preconcerted lines of 
action planned by his august cousin. Unfortunately, such 
opportunities have been offered him but too rarely of 
late. Moreover, he should not be made to feel the entire 
weight of responsibility. Others should have their legit- 
imate share. Public opinion, which looks on from a dis- 
tance, which sees but imperfectly and judges unjustly, is 
convinced that the Emperor is always glad when he can 
depreciate the Prince Napoleon. I could cite in proof 
of this a dozen instances ; the stupid ones take for per- 



HER RELATION TO POLITICS. 11/ 

fidy what is in reality the result of a too passive kindness 
— a kindness too condescending and indifferent, per- 
haps. Unfortunately the facts seem to support this false 
and absurd point of view. Others, more stupid still, in 
the presence of such an adventure as that of to-day, claim 
that the Prince owes the greater part of his mortification 
to the hatred which the Empress entertains for him. I 
am speaking of the official world, I am speaking of the 
court circle, I am speaking of a number of individuals 
who have something against the Tuileries or the govern- 
ment, and who therefore calumniate the character of the 
Empress and the attitude of the Prince towards her. 
For years I have not left the Prince Napoleon. I shall 
never forget the day of the Empress's marriage. The 
Prince had a house in the Rue de 1' Universite. I was 
with him that morning. Plis drawing-room was filled 
with a crowd of people whose business or whose past 
put them in contact with the French populace. The 
Prince was talking to them and giving them their in- 
structions. His words still ring in my ears. 

The Faubourgs, he was saying, should applaud the 
young Empress, they should be illuminated, they should 
show their sympathy, for the wife of the Emperor is 
what she appears to be, her soul is in her face, she is 
as good as she is beautiful ! 

Since then, on many occasions, I have talked with 
him, or rather, heard him speak of the young Empress, 
and whenever she was mentioned I can still see the 
smile in his eye as well as on his lips, as one smiles 
when the subject under discussion gives rise to senti- 
ments of kindness or of affection, that issue from the 
heart. But any demonstration of feeling is distasteful 
to him. 



tl8 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

Well, notwithstanding all this, it is none the less true 
that the relation between the Tuileries and the Palais 
Royal is often strained, and to-day it is more so than 
ever. You can readily understand what injustice such a 
state of things does to the dynasty, to France, and, last 
of all, to our poor, dear Poland. You can judge to what 
point it will be desirable to solve the problem, as it 
should be done, by removing the cheveux de frise which 
blocks the way between the two residences. To arrive 
at this solution, I see but one way, and we must consider 
no other, as the one that I will suggest seems to me to 
be infallible. 

The Comte exerts a noticeable influence over the 
mind of the Prince, an influence, the intensity of which 
I have been able to appreciate ; and which arises, in the 
first place, from a return to a conscientious, impartial 
and just judgment of the value of this high dignitary ; 
next, from a feeling of regret for the past, or, if you 
insist on my using the word, from a remorse occasioned 
by previous unjust judgment and misapprehension. It 
is the Comte, then, who can, better than any one else, 
apply the first dressing to the wound — the gentle inter- 
vention of the Emipress would accomplish the rest. The 
Senate is to open a discussion on Algeria ; the Prince 
is to speak. Would it not be possible that on this 
occasion he should receive a letter showing at least as 
much kind feeling as the one addressed to-day to M. 
Billault. Moreover, does not the Polish question, of 
equal interest to every one, offer a unique and mar- 
vellous opportunity for a reconciliation, and for removing 
the misunderstandings which have no serious grounds 
for existence, no logical and justifiable right to disturb 
the intimate relations of the family ? All the conditions 



HER RELATION TO POLITICS. II9 

for success seem to exist if we choose to make use of 
them. On the other hand, should we deviate from this 
course, what good can result for any one, or for any 
cause ? Can you tell me ? 

Although limited to some extent along cer- 
tain circumscribed lines, the influence of the 
Empress on the home policy was not so slight 
as fantastic traditions or interested narratives 
would seem to make it appear. 

This influence had, it is true, a playful char- 
acter which was not so apparent. It was only 
on questions of foreign policy that she asserted 
herself, that she hastened events, that she de- 
termined results which history will record to 
justify or to condemn her. 

It was only, I repeat, after the campaign in 
Italy that the Empress united her efforts to 
those of the Emperor and his colleagues, on 
questions of general politics, and particularly 
on those relating to our foreign policy. 

She had — and I have elsewhere explained 
this opposition — opposed all alliance with Vic- 
tor Emmanuel, foreseeing through the intensity 
of her religious sentiments, that such an alliance, 
made with a view to the independence of Italy, 
would endanger, if not immediately, at least 
ultimately, the temporal power of the Papacy. 

Long before hostilities were declared between 



I20 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

France and Austria, she had used all her influ- 
ence as a woman to persuade the Emperor to 
give up his project, and several violent scenes 
had occurred between Napoleon and the Em- 
press on the subject. 

" The Italians," she had said to him one day, 
" will not thank you for the blood you will shed 
for them. And if you think to secure friends 
by serving their ambition and their vanity, you 
are in error. If danger threatened you, they 
would turn their backs on you." 

A much more important discussion arose, 
between the Empress and Napoleon III., on the 
approval given by the French government to 
the Italian claims. 

The Empress knew that the Emperor had 
entered into an agreement with certain politi- 
cians over the Alps, and it was the memory of 
this agreement that gave rise to a hot discus- 
sion between them. 

" You are the plaything, the slave of Maz- 
zini ! " she exclaimed on one occasion. 

And as the Emperor attempted to defend 
himself, and, without denying the promises he 
had made, sought to explain them to her by re- 
conciling them with his personal tendencies, 
with his policy, she reproached him in bitter 
terms with what she called compromises, and 



HER RELATION TO POLITICS. 121 

declared that out of " all these things " would 
result no good to the Imperial dynasty. 

Who can ever tell whether Napoleon was sin- 
cere in his enthusiasm regarding the war in 
Italy ? In his philosophy, made up of Utopian 
dreams, did he believe that he was rendering a 
service to humanity in helping Italy to gain her 
independence ? With his intelligence and fore- 
sight, did he reluctantly side with a people 
whose sympathies he could not be sure of ? 
However this may be, he did not listen on this 
occasion to the objections, to the prayers, or to 
the menaces even of the Empress, and with the 
fatalism of a consummate gambler, he went 
resolutely forward. 

He hurried on events, he precipitated their 
action, as if he wished to be speedily finished 
with that terrible question which impeded the 
progress of his reign ; and long before the 
conflict he pronounced himself in favour of 
Victor Emmanuel. 

" Under existing circumstances," he writes, on Febru- 
ary 2 1st, 1857, "it is impossible for me to depend on the 
accusations of Austria against Piedmont, in any particu- 
lar, and consequently you must write to the Due de 
Gramont not to support in the slightest degree the pre- 
tensions of Austria against the Comte de Beust." 

Contrary to the advice of his ministers of 



122 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

foreign affairs, the Emperor in his proclamation, 
at the time of his leaving for the army, had de- 
clared that he would go as far as the Adriatic. 
The Empress was opposed to his making this 
statement. But by a sudden revulsion of feel- 
ing which is consistent with the character of 
this woman, when the Emperor wanted to make 
peace, she was opposed to any halt in the vic- 
torious march of our regiments, and disapproved 
emphatically of the interview at Villafranca. 

The part played by the Empress is here again 
somewhat modified. These are only attempts 
on her part, only obstacles put in the way of 
the Emperor. Her part will be more important 
in the Mexican question, and in the Roman 
Catholic question, banishing to a secondary 
place all initiative except that which emanated 
from the Emperor. 

Presiding at the councils of the ministers, 
moreover, after the Italian campaign, she was in 
a favourable position to participate in the govern- 
mental and international discussions. And, as 
she had shown in her Regency an amazing 
facility for assimilation, the Emperor, conde- 
scending, or fearing fresh domestic discord, per- 
mitted her daily thus to intensify her influence. 

This initiation of the Empress into the coun- 
cils of the state, had an object in view which it 



HER RELATION TO POLITICS. 1 23 

is well to reveal. The Emperor, annoyed by 
the frivolous character of the Empress' mind ; 
the ministers, anxious to stay the secret attacks 
made on the Empress, resolved to offer to her 
imagination some diversion, some occupation 
more worthy of the rank which she occupied, 
and so dissipate the accusations of frivolity 
which were brought against her. 

So she was admitted to the councils, that it 
might be no longer said in France and else- 
where that she only thought of pleasure, and 
that it might be seen that she was useful to her 
husband. At first the Emperor objected to this 
interference of his wife in political affairs. But 
he finally yielded, I repeat, to the advice of his 
counsellors, and, as much for the sake of pleas- 
ing them as of appearing deferential to the 
wishes of the Empress, who had eagerly taken 
up the duties assigned to her, he resigned 
himself to the situation. 

The young sovereign was charmed with the 
importance which was thus officially given her. 
In her instinctive jealousy of every one who 
came near the Emperor, she saw in this impor- 
tance given her an opportunity to weaken their 
influence, and her natural vanity was flattered, 
being the only wife of a King in Europe who 
was admitted or initiated into public affairs, 



124 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

regardless of all circumstances which compelled 
her to study them. From that time she out- 
lined her policy and occupied herself actively 
in all that interested the public, as well as 
the courts and the cabinets abroad. Was she 
indeed to blame ? And did not the flattery of 
those who surrounded her encourage that pride, 
that self-assurance, with which they afterwards 
reproached her ? And was she not, after all, 
a wife, a woman in love, although an Empress ; 
and does not that jealousy, which was evidently 
fatal to the Imperial policy, deserve to be 
treated with indulgence ? The wife of a man 
on whom all other women smiled ! did she not 
have the right — the right of any peasant — 
to aspire to be the only woman who should 
render homage to the man whom she loved, and 
who had an undreamed-of power of inspiring 
the affection, the devotion even, of every one 
who came near him ? This is the domain of 
romance, and we are writing history ! 

However, allow me to quote from one letter, 
curious in more ways than one, which demon- 
strates my theory. This letter is from M. 
Rothan, who has recently died. It alludes to 
the interview at Stuttgart which occurred two 
years before the Italian campaign, and, although 
it does not bear directly on the events con- 



HER RELATION TO POLITICS. 1 25 

nected with this war, it reveals enough of the 
homage paid to Napoleon III., and the flatteries 
which came to the ears of the Empress, to 
serve as some palliation of the jealousy of her 
woman's heart, if not of a sovereign's pride, 
and will incline one to forgive her much. 

Stuttgart, September 28, '57. 
My dear Friend, — 

I had intended to send you each day an account of 
the day preceding. But how can one write in the midst 
of all this excitement ! Yesterday I dictated a few lines 

to M at the moment of the closing of the mails. I 

was saying that the Emperor's success had been com- 
plete, universal ; that all eyes and ears were turned 
towards him. The interest in him increases, and he is 
received every time he goes out with ever-increasing 
enthusiasm. Saturday, before dinner, he took the arm 
of General Bauer, and went through the town with him 
without any other escort. In the midst of his walk he 
was recognised, and was immediately surrounded by 
an immense crowd, which followed him and treated him 
with the most profound respect. General Bauer, alarmed 
at his responsibility, urged the Emperor to go in some- 
where ; but S. M. paid no attention to his entreaties, and 
continued his walk in the midst of the crowd with a 
marked feeling of satisfaction. Yesterday morning on 
entering the church and in coming from mass, the ap- 
plause was renewed. His success at court, and with all 
who have had the honour of approaching him, leaves 
nothing to be desired. He charms every one by his 
graciousness and his simplicity. He captivated the 



126 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

Queen from the very first. The Queen of Holland 
was in love with him before she saw him ; I suppose 
by this time her head is completely turned. In the 
midst of all this, the great and impassive personality 
of the Emperor Alexander is scarcely noticed. There 
is a radiance about our Emperor that seems to throw 
the others completely in the shade. The Russian lega- 
tion feels the difference and seems almost to resent it. 
The Empress Marie has arrived. In a contest for 
beauty, elegance, and cleverness she would have lost, 
if the Empress Eugenie had been here. So far as I 
can judge, she affects simplicity. At a big dinner last 
evening after the play, she was dressed like a little shop- 
keeper's wife, without any crinoline ; a modest blue dress, 
flat on the hips and puffed out around the bottom. There 
is nothing imperial in her bearing ; there is a provincial 
air about her, or rather the air of the small German 
court. You know she is not the daughter of her father ; it 
is well known that she is the daughter of a M. de Grancy. 
Moreover, before her marriage, she was treated at the 
Court of Darmstadt like a Cinderella. The Emperor 
took her in to dinner ; the Emperor Alexander escorted 
the Queen of Wiirtemberg, and presided. The King 
took in both the Queen of Greece and the Queen of 
Holland. The Emperor Alexander gave the toast, but 
in German, which roused some comment. The King 
answered it ; he had the good taste to answer in French. 
The Russians only remained until the beginning of the 
second act. The Empress was said to be slightly indis- 
posed ; the Emperor held his own until the end, always 
attentive and kind to the old Queen, who was left alone. 

The letter ends in a joking tone. 



HER RELATION TO POLITICS. \2J 

Amongst other Frenchmen, we have here a M. de 
Ladoucette, who asked the Mar^chal de la Chambre 
(who did not know him from Adam) to invite him to all 
the entertainments where the Emperor was to appear. 
He was recommended by his title of senator. They 
were good-natured enough to take this request seriously, 
and M, de Ladoucette is seen everywhere without having 
been presented to any one. This story reached the Em- 
peror's ears, who was very indignant at it. 

In the main, the war in Italy, with the excep- 
tion of the difference of opinion it gave rise to 
between the Emperor and his wife, left her 
indifferent. It roused no real and feminine 
curiosity, except in regard to the new cousin 
it would give her by the marriage of the Prince 
Jerome Napoleon with the daughter of Victor 
Emmanuel. 

I have in my possession, copied by the hand 
of the Emperor, a dispatch which the Prince, on 
his arrival at Turin, sent Napoleon, telling him 
of his first interview with his future wife ; and 
I give it here as a sample of love mixed with 
politics. Philosophers or novelists will perhaps 
profit by it. 

Turin. 
Arrived yesterday at three o'clock. Very sympa- 
thetic reception from the people. Yesterday the King 
was much embarrassed ; everybody excited ; conference 
to-night with the Comte de Cavour ; situation discussed 



128 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

and explained. He understood and will act aright. In 
the morning all went well. Saw the princess ; satisfac- 
tory. Mutually well impressed. The King very cordial. 
Sent some one at once to General Neil to make the offi- 
cial request. All will be done according to the wishes 
of the Emperor. 

The political influence of the Empress Eugenie 
would surely be insignificant if it did not extend 
beyond the debates which were the cause of the 
campaign in Italy. But this influence grows 
more dominating, until it embraces everything 
a few years later ; and when the opportunity 
for a war with Mexico arises, she asserts her- 
self and forces her opinion imperiously. A 
thousand things have been said in regard to 
the Mexican War ; and, in fact, all that has 
been said so far resembles the secret of Punch. 
Doubtless, money transactions of which the Em- 
peror was ignorant, vanity, and competition were 
mixed up with this expedition ; and have dis- 
torted not only the end it had in view, but also 
its point of departure. 

What is not known is that the war in Mexico 
was arranged long before it occurred, as a novel 
is planned ; and it was truly nothing but a novel, 
the last page of which was suddenly blurred with 
blood, to the great surprise of those who intended 
merely to make an idyl. 



HER RELATION TO POLITICS. 1 29 

The affair of Mexico was a fairy tale, in which 
the ogre gets the best of Tom Thumb, nothing 
more, nothing less ; and it was also a revenge of 
the Empress on Italy, which she continued to 
dislike. 

The Empress organised this expedition, with 
Mme. de Metternich, believing, in good faith, 
that they could make Austria forget the loss of 
her provinces by giving her a distant Empire to 
manage. By and by the capricious and enthu- 
siastic minds of these two women saw nothinor 
in this creation of an Emperor and an Empress 
in love with each other but a pretty poem, and 
they did everything in their power to realise 
their dream. 

For several years the relations of France and 
Austria had been very friendly, and this friend- 
liness had been sufficiently strong for M. de 
Metternich, since i860, to control affairs not 
only at court, but also in certain Parisian pa- 
pers devoted to the Empire, as the following 
letter will indicate : — 

Wednesday, December 4, i860. 
My Dear Friend, — The Patrie, which is famous 
for its hostility to Austria, quotes in its issue of this 
evening an article from the morning Herald, according 
to which the Emperor of Austria, in order to circumvent 
the plans of his real adversary, ' would be disposed to 
make an alliance with Victor Emmanuel ! ' 



130 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

M. Delamarre's paper, instead of making fun of this 
foolish whim, pretends to believe it, and speaks of the 
cherished illusions at Vienna as if they were assured 
facts. The object of this absurd and hypocritical pro- 
ceeding is easy to understand. 

I write to ask you if you cannot refer to this absurd 
way of speaking of the Fa trie, in the Pays f 

Forgive me for troubling you with this newspaper 
matter, but you know me well enough to understand my 
righteous indignation on seeing a newspaper, with such a 
circulation as the Patrie, throw oil on the flame, when 
we seek for nothing better than to extinguish it alto- 
gether. I turn to you in great, as well as in small, things. 
Do whatever you like ; whatever you do is right ! You 
need not answer me. I will see you to-morrow, in com- 
ing from Thouvenel, at half-past two. 

When in 1861 — a year after this letter was 
written — it was discussed, in secret with the 
Empress, what satisfaction should be offered to 
Austria, the unfortunate Maximilian and the 
Princess Charlotte were immediately thought of 
by the "conspirators" as those who should ben- 
efit by the situation. Gatherings and councils 
took place in a small suburb, at a little distance 
from Paris, between Mme. de Metternich, M. de 
Metternich, M. Hidalgo, Mme. d' Arcos, and two 
or three other persons, who, from motives of 
propriety I will not mention here, but who will 
be easily recognised in my narrative. They 



HER RELATION TO POLITICS. 131 

met at night in a villa, the Empress carefully 
veiled, as if in a domino, and there they planned 
the future campaign. M. Hidalgo, whose ambi- 
tion was great, affirmed that the Mexicans would 
welcome the French, as well as the Archduke 
Maximilian, and that this expedition would be 
but a pleasant sailing trip. 

M. and Mme. de Metternich were not less en- 
thusiastic ; and, in order to please the Empress, 
approved in advance whatever she proposed. 

In vain did the ministers interpose ; in vain 
did the Emperor hesitate. Nothing prevailed 
against the decisions of the " Committee." The 
Empress and her friend had resolved to have 
their romance played out, and were only waiting 
for an opportunity to write it. 

The Empress was also influenced by a per- 
sonal motive. Still very Spanish, despising the 
Mexicans, she was not in the least sorry to in- 
flict on those whom she looked upon as rene- 
gades a royalty which would bring them nearer 
to that Europe which they had renounced, and 
which thus would bring them under her sur- 
veillance. Encouraged in these ideas by the 
Spanish society with which she still corre- 
sponded and held relations, she determined to 
carry out her plan, and did not rest until she 
had won the approval of the Emperor. 



132 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

Thus from the dream of two women sprang 
the most terrible tragedy of modern times. 

The facts brought to Hght in these pages are 
serious, and would doubtless be denied were I 
not prepared to prove them. Again a letter 
will substantiate my statements, and this letter, 
signed by the Prince de Metternich himself, 
will doubtless be adequate proof to the in- 
credulous or to the ignorant. Here is the 
letter, just as I received it, spelling, punctua- 
tion and all ! 

ChIteau de Kcenigswart 

September 2yd, 1861 

My dear friend. 

I begin by giving you an idea of the frightful dis- 
tance which separates us. Your kind and interesting 
letter was seven days on the road which leads from 
Biarritz to Kcenigswart, just about the time required to 
go from Paris to St. Petersburg, and such roads ! 

I traveled two long days in coming here from Vienna 
— the end of the world it seems to me — and we real- 
ized what the exiles in Siberia endure. The intense 
cold adds to the comparison. Pauline had reached 
there only a few days ahead of me. I found in com- 
pany with Pauline, my sister and my mother-in-law^ and 
we had two visitors — a remarkable attention — General 
Benedeck and a Saxon friend of ours, who was kind 
enough to give us the most convincing proof of his friend- 
ship by coming here despite the inclement weather, the 
distance and the abominable coaches. 

I availed myself of my stay in Vienna to call atten- 



HER RELATION TO POLITICS. 1 33 

tion to the project in question, and I propose reverting to 
it anew with my august master. We are too much occu- 
pied with our home affairs to allow ourselves to drift 
into Californian dreams. You will understand that I 
cannot enter here into certain details, as I have at my 
disposal only the one mail coach which runs through 
three kingdoms and some ten principalities whose politi- 
cal curiosity is not considerate of their importance, moral 
or material. Be convinced, however, that I shall prove 
worthy of the confidence and the grand projects with 
which a benevolent spirit, a noble heart and the win- 
ning influence of the ' black domino ' have inspired 
you. 

I am very much touched by the fact that my race 
apathy and my repugnance to the first plan of .the cam- 
paign — far from displeasing the domino should on 
the contrary have influenced her somewhat in favor 
of the intentions which I had expressed in the begin- 
ning. 

Please say to any one you know that the question 
seems to me to be entering on a more practical phase. 
I will be thought ver}- egotistical, but as long as I am 
not thought ungrateful I do not care. My personal 
devotion, moreover, is well known and the kind wishes 
which come to me through you from Biarritz can but 
intensify a sentiment very dear to my heart. 

When you send an answer let me share your kind 
messages. Metternich.- 



A few months after this letter, in fact, the 
CaHfornian scheme began to take shape. The 
pretext for writing the romance had been found. 



134 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

M. Hidalgo was overjoyed and . . . twelve 
balls riddled the heart of the unfortunate 
Prince, the unconscious victim of a court in- 
trigue. 

The display at the Austrian Embassy and at 
the Tuileries when the Archduke Maximilian 
and the Princess Charlotte passed through 
Paris, on their way to Mexico, is well known. 
What is not known, perhaps, is the tragic scene 
which took place at Saint-Cloud, when the poor 
woman returned to Europe to implore assist- 
ance to extricate the husband whom she adored 
from the dreadful state of things in which he 
had been entangled. Charlotte was in the salon 
of the Chateau, surrounded by the Emperor, 
the Empress and the entire court, and she 
brought tears to the eyes of all as she stood 
there in her anticipated widowhood, when, all 
of a sudden, she drew herself up, and with a 
bewildered gesture, asked some one to give her 
a drink. 

The Emperor, sadly, deeply chagrined at not 
being able to come to her assistance, rose and 
with a marked courtesy brought her a glass of 
water mixed with syrup of orgeat. 

Charlotte seized the glass, looked at it, and 
turning her eyes towards him who had offered 
it, thrust it from her, her whole body shaken 



HER RELATION TO POLITICS. 1 35 

with a violent tremor. Then shrinking back, 
she appeared to push from her imaginary spec- 
tres, and muttered in frightened accents, — 

" They wish to poison me ! . . . they wish to 
poison rne ! " 

The scene was lamentable, it was tragic, I re- 
peat, and it was with great difficulty that they 
succeeded in calming her. 

She was cared for, meantime, and the next 
day had no recollection of this momentary ab- 
erration of mind, the forerunner of that perma- 
nent insanity which followed and which perhaps 
was more humane than saneness under the cir- 
cumstances. The idea of poison haunted her 
once more, and then her reason fled forever. 

At Rome, where she was staying, at the 
Vatican, a scene similar to the one at Saint- 
Cloud occurred, and the Pope was obliged to 
taste first the food that was offered to her 
before she could be persuaded to touch it. 
And again, one night she left her bedroom and 
went to the apartment of Cardinal Antonelli 
and tried to break open the door. The prelate, 
discovering her, caused her to be led back to 
her own room. After this her sane moments 
were few. 

And now, amongst all the queens, thoughtless 
and gay, perhaps loved, she will be known as 



136 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

the insane Queen until her death — hasta la 
mzierte — in the language of those who killed 
her husband. 

Another political question aroused the interest 
of the Empress Eugenie to the same extent as 
the preceding, but from a different motive. I 
allude to the Roman question. 

The weakening of the temporal power of the 
Pope disturbed the Empress. She had peculiar 
ideas in regard to the internal division in Italy,, 
and she persistently entreated the Emperor to 
adopt her views. 

She would have liked, for instance, that the 
Roumanians should have been brought under 
the dominion of St. Peter, that the power of 
Victor Emmanuel in the north of the Penin- 
sula should have been divided, and that Naples 
should have been left to King Francis II. As 
to the other governments in Italy, they con- 
cerned her less, and she was not interested in 
them. But what troubled her, what caused her 
sincere grief, was that, at a moment's notice, 
the Pope might become the subject of the 
King ; and, exasperated by this thought, she 
unceasingly talked of it and of her fears to 
the Emperor, who resisted her appeals, and 
was even obliged to interfere, writing a letter 
with his own hand to outline his policy, and 



HER RELATION TO POLITICS. 13/ 

to repudiate the compromising wishes of his 
wife. 

This is the letter : — 

The Emperor did not know in advance the answer 
of the King. He wrote to the King to prevent the depu- 
tation from Roumania coming to Paris. What renders 
the position of the Emperor a difificult one is the convic- 
tion that what would be most fatal for the Pope, as well 
as for the Emperor, would be to employ foreign forces 
to bring the people to a realisation of their duty. 

The Empress had, in this question also, two 
strong allies in Mme. de Metternich and her 
husband. The Prince, in fact, seconded the 
wishes of the Empress and did not hesitate 
even to support them before the French cabi- 
net. The letter which he wrote on this subject 
is interesting. 

Chateau de Koeningswart, 

September 27, 1862. 

My dear friend, — 

One of my friends writes me that you are made anx- 
ious by the efforts put forth by the extremists to bring 
about new concessions in the Roumanian question. I 
assure you that after my last interview with the Emperor 
and the Empress at Saint-Cloud, I do not believe that 
party to have the slightest chance of success. The words 
which I had from the Emperor himself were so explicit 
that I have come away with the conviction (and facts 
alone could cause me to abandon it) that the status quo 



138 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

will be maintained at Rome as long as the French Army 
cannot honourably leave the Eternal City. You know, 
my dear friend, how much I pride myself on being able 
to proclaim boldly the faithfulness with which the Em- 
peror has always kept the promises which he has made 
to me, and fulfilled the assurances which he has given 
me, so that I am persuaded that the Emperor, while 
looking after his interests in Italy, will not yield the main 
point in the situation. Such is the conviction of her 
who, for me and for many others, personifies the dignity 
of France, and the honour of the dynasty. Please re- 
member me, if you have not forgotten me to L.L. M.M. 

Metternich. 

An anecdote will also show what obstinacy 
the Empress brought to bear on this question, 
and with what a strong will she bent that of the 
Emperor to share her sentiments, who, it must 
be admitted, entered only half convinced into 
the defence of the temporal power of the Papacy, 
and was, on several occasions, on the point of 
abandoning it. But the threats of the Empress 
invariably prevented him from carrying out his 
resolutions. 

During the war in Italy, shortly before sign- 
ing the treaty of peace, when every one was 
expecting a cessation of hostilities, she sent a 
friend to the Emperor, with instructions to find 
him in camp, and to tell him from her that he 
should receive from Victor Emmanuel a formal 



HER RELATION TO POLITICS. 1 39 

pledge in favour of Pius IX., whom she wished 
to have absolute in the states, and that he must 
not forget, under these circumstances, that he 
was the godfather of the Prince Imperial ; 
finally that any abandonment, even relatively, 
of his interests would bring misfortune on his 
son. As the Emperor paid no attention to this 
request, she was for several days much dis- 
tressed. 

The fears of the Empress relative to the greed 
of Italy, were not without foundation, as the fol- 
lowing letter from General de Montebello, dated 
Rome, December 9, 1862, will show : — 



From all that I hear, it seems to me that we are 
about to wrest from the pontifical government certain 
insufficient concessions, which will satisfy no one ; and 
which, if they have the advantage of allowing M, Drouyn 
de Lhuys to present himself at the chamber with a little 
more favour, will not advance the question at stake, and, 
indeed, may injure it ; for it would be better to keep it 
intact. It is said that the new tactics adopted at Turin 
means rendering up this claim on Rome, to take advan- 
tage of that renunciation to obtain the withdrawal of our 
troops, which we could quickly replace by an armed 
force, with the hope of becoming quickly master of the 
situation, when France would no longer be there to pro- 
tect the Pope and the Papacy. This plan, which is not 
without ingenuity, is approved by the Mazzinian party in 
Rome, which is resolved to wait. Although I am on my 



140 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

guard, I attach no importance to the reiterated warning 
which is given me in regard to a plot for an uprising in 
Rome, and I can almost assure you in advance that there 
will be no disturbance. 

However, the advisors of Napoleon III. worked 
resolutely against him ; and M. Magne himself, 
who was not an alarmist, was obliged, in order 
to successfully oppose this influence, to lay bare 
the situation before the Council in terms which 
allow of no equivocation. 

" We attempt the impossible," he says, '' if we try to 
conciliate in every respect Italy, which wants Rome, and 
the Pope, who wants the lost states. 

" It is evident that these two ends are irreconcilable ; 
that ten years hence they will be as they are to-day. To 
force Italy to give up Rome, and to force the Pope to 
give up the states, a stronger will than theirs will be 
needed to overrule them ; namely, the will of all Europe. 
Is it really impossible to accomplish this in a reasonable 
way, by leaving to Piedmont what force has established, 
what time has already consecrated, what a large part of 
Europe has recognised, and which, on the other hand, 
would insure to the Pope what the generosity of the 
Emperor has preserved for him ? 

" Either I am much mistaken, or the mass of opinion 
(with the exception of the enthusiasts on both sides) 
would be satisfied to come back to the principles of Vil- 
lafranca, to the confederation. But we are already too 
far from the source to make it possible for us to go up- 
stream ; at least, I fear it is so ; and I see so great a gain 



HER RELATION TO POLITICS. I4I 

for us in renouncing our false position, that I would will- 
ingly sacrifice my personal views in favor of the adop- 
tion of the status quo justly established, if there were no 
way of obtaining anything better." 

There was thus endlessly, between the Em- 
press and the ministers, a daily struggle, which 
wearied, which exhausted, and which weakened 
the initiative of the Emperor. 

The Empress and the Prince Napoleon agreed, 
by a strange coincidence, on only one point — 
the Polish question. 

When, in 1863, the Emperor was strongly 
urged to take the part of Poland, and to declare 
war with Russia, the Empress was ardently in 
favor of such a war, influenced in this, as in all 
other questions, exclusively by her religious sen- 
timents. In delivering the Poles from oppres- 
sion and restoring them to a state of political 
independence, it seemed to her that she was 
coming to the rescue of the Pope, that she was 
upholding his authority, and that she was giving 
more freedom to that religion for which, under 
all circumstances, she manifested so much affec- 
tion. 

As to the Prince Napoleon, is it necessary to 
say that no religious considerations entered into 
his political calculations } A great believer in 
nationalities, he based his sympathy with Poland 



142 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE 

on altogether different causes and effects ; and 
the following letter, which he wrote at this time, 
will reveal his point of view better than a long 
analysis of his feelings : — 

Palais Royal, Tuesday, April 21, iS6-^. 

I have just read an article in yesterday's Pays copied 
this morning in the Constitutionnel. I have also learned 
that the editor of the Opinion Nationale has been sum- 
moned, to prohibit his discussing in plain terms the pos- 
sibility of a war with Russia. I am of the opinion that 
this move on the part of the government was suggested 
to the Emperor by M.M. de Morny and Persigny. The 
symptoms are very serious and render any action against 
Russia, by France alone, quite improbable. 

The Emperor' is waiting for the answer of Russia; 
we can predict that it will be mild and moderate in form, 
without giving any real satisfaction whatever in regard 
to the Polish question. If the Emperor, who foresees 
this answer as well as we do, desired to act alone, he 
would make preparations to do so ; his not doing so 
indicates that he wishes to negotiate still further, that is 
to say, he wants to temporise until any expedition this 
year will be impossible. England and Austria having 
begun .triple negotiations will not allow France to free 
herself, and, while appearing to wish for a diplomatic 
understanding, will prevent us from doing anything alone 
by force of arms. 

The politicians who surround the Emperor will be in 
favour of this attitude of the two powers ; the time will 
pass, the Polish insurrection will be quelled, and we will 
accomplish nothing this year, and still less in the future. 



1 



HER RELATION TO POLITICS. 1 43 

If the Emperor were anxious to act, he would be more 
decided than he is, and he would not yield to the first 
obstacle put in his way by those who do not wish him 
to support Poland with his army. 

To the answer of Russia, we could reply by new 
negotiations with Vienna and London ; no decision 
could be arrived at ; still, the lateness of the season 
making adjournment impossible, it might happen, though 
I doubt it, that England and Austria would be forced 
into action, in which case we could do nothing more 
either on land or at sea. 

The war resolutely checked to-day might still be re- 
newed, in a few weeks more this would be impossible ; 
and if it were undertaken too late I should be very appre- 
hensive. I sum up the situation then as follows : if the 
Emperor were resolved to act alone without losing time ; 
if surrounded by men in favour of this plan he were to 
make the necessary preparations, the war would be, if 
not inevitable, at least, possible, and every chance in our 
favour; if he delays, it becomes a perilous adventure. 
Moreover, to make preparations for war now, were to pre- 
pare ourselves for war, without being obliged to enter 
upon it unless circumstances proved favourable. All of 
these considerations make me think that nothing will be 
done, as the Emperor has not yet made up his mind. 
"We have often discussed this serious question upon 
which we are agreed, hence the frankness with which I 
express to you candidly my sentiments. 

The mind of the Emperor at this time was 
not entirely swayed by his wife ; he was still 
able to resist her wishes, and he did not go to 



144 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

war with Russia. The Polish question, more- 
over, only interested him relatively, and he faced 
it much more calmly than some of the statesmen 
who surrounded him. It did not seem to him 
necessary to bring it forward, and so make it 
one of the principal causes of the European 
quarrels at that time. 

The future verified his estimate of the sit- 
uation. 

The year 1 867 saw the apotheosis of the Im- 
perial regime ; it also saw the germ of influence 
which the Empress had sown in the heart of 
her husband grow and develop rapidly. 

From this time forth, in joy and sorrow, 
in certainty and uncertainty, she asserts her 
authority over the Emperor; and as the will 
of Napoleon III. grows weaker, hers grows 
stronger, breaks down barriers, and marches 
on with long strides toward the supreme rival- 
ries and the mad revolutions of 1870. 

When, in another volume, on the Second 
Empire, I come to examine the general policy 
of Napoleon III., I will return to certain points 
which I have not been able to take up here. 

This chapter is nearly finished and calls for 
a conclusion. But what conclusion } Alas ! it 
appears in these pages that the thoughts of the 
Empress soar above those of the Emperor, cover- 



HER RELATION TO POLITICS. 145 

ing him, as it were, with a fatal and ominous 

shadow. It would seem from these pages that 

an Empire, founded by force, was wrecked by ,^. 

the smile of a pretfy'woman. Is this any reason ^^^ 

for condemning those who were charmed by 

this smile ? Does not history, which dispenses 

praise or blame impartially, teach us that thrones 

built with the sound of thunder have crumbled 

under the breath of enchantment or sorcery ? 

This is doubtless the philosophy of resignation. 

But, all things considered, is it not the best ? 



V. 

THE EMPRESS AND SOCIETY. 

I HAVE already said that the foreign courts 
were continually reserved in their attitude 
towards the Empress Eugenie ; and the coldness 
with which they received her, from the time of 
her marriage, never entirely disappeared, in 
spite of the distinction and brilliancy which 
the Emperor gave to his reign. The gay world 
— Parisian society, and particularly the society 
of the Faubourg Saint-Germain — evinced more 
than hostility, yes, even malice towards her, 
whom a psychological accident had raised to the 
highest rank ; and if this malice and this hos- 
tility sometimes abated, when there was a ques- 
tion of obtaining some favour from the Tuileries, 
they never entirely disappeared. In vain did 
the Emperor make advances to the principal 
members of the hostile party, in vain did he 
offer the chair of senator to several noblemen, 
already ruined or about to be ; in vain did the 
Empress, whose pride it must be admitted suf- 
fered from this unmerited scorn, become — 

146 



THE EMPRESS AND SOCIETY. I47 

what a mockery ! — a legitimist. Nothing could 
overcome the unfriendly attitude of the aristo- 
cratic set under the Empire, and Napoleon, as 
well as his wife, was obliged to give up all 
hope of conciliation. 

It must not be imagined, however, that the 
world of society did not allow itself to be won 
over by the charm of honorary offices, and by 
the advantage of remunerative employments. 

Some few notable men or women, in this set, 
^although with expressions of disapproval — 
accepted from the Emperor or Empress what 
might be familiarly called "places," and if their 
consciences did not reproach them for accepting 
them, they at least showed no gratitude. 

The aristocrats could not be comforted for 
the loss of their rights in being kept away from 
the Tuileries ; but as it would have been in bad 
taste to appear indebted to the Emperor, when 
he sent for them, they took this attention as a 
matter of course and considered it as their due. 
The remark of the Marquise de la Roche-Lam- 
bert on this subject is conclusive. 

On being told, one day, that an old relative, a 
great friend and adviser of M. le Comte de 
Chambord, had accepted an invitation from the 
Emperor, far from being indignant, she answered 
in a most natural tone : *' M. X has done 



148 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

quite right, and I entirely approve of his con- 
duct. Why should his presence at court astonish 
you ? After all, these Bonapartes are merely 
camping in the chateau. The Tuileries belong 
to us, and we are always at home there." 

Extraordinary comedies also occurred when 
the Empress, choosing the ladies of the Palace, 
wished to put on her list one or two names be- 
longing to the close aristocracy of the Faubourg. 

One of these, although pleased and flattered 
by this distinction, did not think she could ac- 
cept until she had had the advice of the " King ; " 
and she made a special trip to Frosdorff in 
order to receive authority to serve the Empress, 
or, as the case might be, to answer her request 
by a refusal. 

The Comte de Chambord was capable of con- 
siderable cleverness on occasion. He granted 
full permission to his gracious suppliant, and 
on her return, she immediately took her place 
by the side of the sovereign. Amongst all the 
ungrateful ones she alone remembered the kind- 
ness of the Empress ; and, on the Fourth of 
September, she was among those who sur- 
rounded the unfortunate woman and remained 
with her until her departure. But these evi- 
dences of fidelity, of affection, of sympathy 
even, were not common in the particular world 



THE EMPRESS AND SOCIETY. 1 49 

of which I am speaking ; and, I do not hesitate 
to say, it betrayed weakness on the part of the 
Emperor that he should allow his wife to show 
herself kindly disposed towards the Faubourg 
Saint-Germain ; and it exhibited, moreover, a 
serious fault on the part of the Emperor, that 
he should have been too often indulgent to the 
insults, to the scorn, and to the outrages of a 
society opposed to all idea of progress, to all 
modern evolution, and to all proper feeling. If 
he had broken down this hostility of the salons^ 
as he ought, as he could have done, he would 
have turned their scorn into fear ; with all the 
more assurance because Napoleon III. was 
known to be but little inclined to easy victories, 
to petty annoyances, to personal revenge ; and if 
thereby he might have lost some affection, he 
would certainly have compelled that interested 
devotion which belongs to all authority. In 
politics, no point should be neglected ; the op- 
position of the salons^ dissolved, annihilated at 
the start, frowned upon from its foundation, 
would have put an obstacle in the way of an 
alliance between the royalists and the repub- 
licans who later made the break in the Imperial 
policy, and fatally led him, who caused the Sec- 
ond of December, to a chance plebiscite and to 
the war of 1870. 



ISO THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

Everything is linked together in history ; 
every fact is born from another fact. The Fau- 
bourg Saint-Germain amused itself by calling 
the Tuileries, under the Empire, " The Court 
of King Petaud." It would have been better 
for Napoleon III. and his dynasty, had the 
term been more reproachful, for terms of scorn 
are often, especially in politics, an involuntary 
homage rendered to the invulnerable, to a power 
that will not be slighted with impunity. In 
a volume especially devoted to the Emperor, 
and which will follow this one, I shall return to 
this subject of the attitude of the salons under 
the Empire ; and I will publish documents which 
will satisfy the public of the good faith and of 
the honour of the aristocratic party, in their un- 
yielding war against Napoleon. 

The Empress, doubtless to console herself 
for the systematic scorn with which she was 
treated, and in order to forget it also, gave to 
her social gatherings that lightness of tone, 
that thoughtlessness and folly, with which she 
has been so often reproached, and which con- 
trasted so severely with the formal character 
of the receptions on the left bank of the river. 

She not only permitted — I apologise for 
the expression — low characters to be intro- 



THE EMPRESS AND SOCIETY. 151 

duced to her, but she frequented the balls of 
the ministers, principally the minister of the 
navy, setting the fashion for an eccentricity, 
for a levity in good company, which pleased 
the young people, and gave them a greater inde- 
pendence than was consistent with propriety, in 
their manners as well as in their speech. 

In this laxity of etiquette, if not of customs, 
where etiquette, indeed, was but little heeded, 
events occurred which pleased her in her 
thoughtlessness, but which brought her into dis- 
credit. The diplomats, the strangers in Paris, 
talked of this license, which took the place in 
the French salons of a former respectability, 
and the mockery of the royalists thus seemed 
to many, even to the indifferent, justifiable. 
This is not a scandal-loving chronicle, and I 
should hesitate to reproduce here the tales, 
more or less true, which followed every appear- 
ance of the Empress at a ball or at an evening 
party. 

It seems to me sufficiently interesting to make 
known the romance which took place between 
the Empress and M. Caro, a romance which had 
no sequence, no more so than those which phi- 
losophers have tried to attribute to her. 

M. Caro had been invited on one occasion to 
a function at Compiegne. It was there not 



152 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

only that he first met the Empress, but that he 
entered into friendly relations with several per- 
sons of the court, and amongst them Mmes. de 
Pourtales and de Metternich. 

The Empress was daily in the habit, on re- 
turning from the hunt, of assembling in her 
private apartments a few of the distinguished 
people who lived in the chateau, to chat with 
her over a cup of tea while waiting for dinner. 
These little assemblages had a name given 
them ; they were called " the Empress's teas." 

M. Caro was always invited, and distinguished 
himself in this select circle by his wit and by 
his conversation, which later was to cost him 
his reputation and his fortune for the sake of 
women somewhat or altogether disreputable. 

During the entire time of his residence at 
Compiegne, he was the lion of every occasion, 
and his obsequiousness at this time would never 
have led one to foresee his desertion and hos- 
tility when the Empire fell. On returning to 
his usual mode of life, he seemed dazed, as if 
fascinated by the bright vision of that court 
which he had just left, and especially was he 
haunted by the lovely image of the Empress. 

He used every means to see her, he catered 
for receptions at different houses where he 
knew she would be present ; and when, finally, 



THE EMPRESS AND SOCIETY. 1 53 

he gained admission to a ball given by Mme. 
Drouyn de Lhuys, at the Foreign Embassy — • 
a costume ball, which was to be enhanced by 
the presence of the Empress — his joy and his 
anticipation knew no bounds. The invitation 
was at this time a mystery to him ; and, as 
we will see further on, he did not hesitate to 
attribute the compliment to the Empress her- 
self. 

M. Caro appeared, then, at the house of 
Mme. Drouyn de Lhuys ; and when the Em- 
press, masked and in a domino, perceived him, 
she, being entirely ignorant of the sentiments 
she had inspired, approached him and tried to 
perplex him. 

The indiscreet philosopher was literally madly 
and passionately in love when the sovereign left 
him, for he had recognised her ; and when M. 
de Chasseloup-Laubat gave a like entertainment 
at the marine department, he was constrained to 
express his joy in a letter to one of the ladies 
who surrounded the Empress. 

*'As I do not know," he writes, *' whom to thank for 
the invitation which I have just received for Monday, 
allow me to thank you. 

" I only care for this invitation for the sake of the 
chance it gives me to meet a domino that scintillates 
with wit, whom I admired greatly at Mme. Drouyn de 



154 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

Lhuys'. May the good genius of fancy balls favour me 
once again, and give me what I ask — another talk with 
her ! She has such a touching history ! If you only 
knew! 

*' She is a beautiful young girl; her name is Pamela, 
. . . her sister's name is Eg]^. . . . She has just come 
from Marseilles, where one day she was nearly abducted 
when taking the air in the Cannebi^re. Poor, charming 
young girl ! You can imagine how impatient I am to 
learn the rest of her history. While waiting for me 
to tell you the rest, accept the respectful homage of 
yours most sincerely. 

" February 25, '65." 

M. Caro does not tell us the sequence, as he 
promised, of the adventures of *' Pamela." But 
a year after this ball, he sought another invita- 
tion to be near her. 

Wednesday Morning. 
Last year at this time, I think I wrote you — 

" Qu'tme illustre inconnue^ 
Qui ne dit point son nom et qu'on n'a point revue " 

had sent me [M. Caro attributed his invitation, as I have 
said, to the Empress] an invitation to the fancy ball at 
the naval department ; but this invitation having been 
addressed to me by an intermediate, left no record on the 
official list of the minister, and I am again forgotten. I 
assure you that I would care but little for this ball, if 
I did not hope to find there my " illustre mconntiey If I 
am unable to find her this year, I will cease to trouble 



THE EMPRESS AND SOCIETY. 1 55 

you with my sorrow ; but if you think she is to be there, 
can you make it possible for me to meet her ? 

This is a real Carnival letter, a veritable intrigue. 
Will you forgive me ? 

20 RUE St. Maur, St. Germain. 

The romance ends here. But does it not 
give us a fair impression of the folly of that 
somewhat equivocal Hberty which reigned in 
the official salons of the Empire, authorised 
by the thoughtlessness of the Empress, and 
which the Emperor, alas ! in his kindness, his 
indulgence for his wife, did not forbid "^ 

This story may be said to have had a se- 
quence after all, however ; and in the form of a 
pen portrait of the Empress Eugenie, M. Caro 
finished it. 

It is rather a curious piece of writing ; it has 
never been published, is not known, and is 
herewith produced in full : — 

Fragment of a portrait. 

"... In vain all my efforts to make those 
who never knew her realise that countenance 
with its sovereign charm and its imperious gen- 
tleness. There is no record of any man being 
able to face with impunity her kind but pene- 
trating glance — as winning as a caress that 
conquers and subdues a rebel will. 



156 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

"There are two things which a man could 
never refuse her — his imagination, which she 
charms ; and his confidence, which she takes pos- 
session of. Who then, enraptured by the secret 
charm of her conversation and of her glance, 
would think of refusing to tell her a secret she 
wished to know ? Not that she is curious in 
the ordinary sense of the word. She is but 
little interested in the scandal of the day, the 
gossip of the moment. She is in no sense a 
gossip ; she neither inspires nor encourages 
that kind of cleverness in those about her. 
But she possesses, in a high degree, political 
curiosity, the desire to know with precision the 
different groups of influential men in the gov- 
ernment, or of the different parties, and to find 
the secret springs of each eminent character. 

" It is with this object in view that she uses 
her supreme gift of conversation. She inspires 
one with a desire to trust her, she tempts one 
to invent secrets for the pleasure of telling them 
to her. The great temptation one feels when 
with her, is to interest her at any cost. 

" She might be reproached with the apparent 
universality of her kindness for men of worth, 
as well as for certain men of small ability who 
belong to her suite. It is irritating, it makes 
one indignant to belong to this throng. How 



THE EMPRESS AND SOCIETY. 1 57 

quickly she perceives any attempt at desertion, 
and how cleverly she baffles it. One tries to free 
one's self — impossible ; a kind word, a slight 
attention from her, and you remain. The cour- 
age to leave was but of a moment's duration. 

" Is she clever 1 Yes ; but we must under- 
stand each other. There are women who, in 
general conversation, will shine more than she ; 
yet none who will make others appear so bril- 
liant. She has a keen common sense which is 
worth more than the thoughtless ready wit in- 
tended for effect, which one often regrets or 
repents. She is sure, from her natural sense of 
justice, of never saying anything she will regret. 
Her words do not always seem clear, but they 
always ring true ; and if they are not more 
emphatic, it is because she herself wishes to 
modify their brightness and vivacity. What 
she loses in apparent success, she gains in real 
influence. She judges men and situations with 
a fine perceptiveness which would do justice to 
a descendant of Machiavelli. She sometimes 
hesitates in expressing herself, from a certain 
awkwardness, net without charm, in using a 
language which was not hers from the cradle. 
But she is definite in her impressions. There 
are few women who have, to the same degree, 
a political sense, and at the same time the mod- 



158 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

est courage to hide it under the elegancies of 
fashionable life. 

" Instinct is the real secret of this happy, 
fortunate nature. All that she knows of the 
world, of life, of politics, she has learned by 
herself, by chance in conversation, substituting 
instinct for culture, for reading even, for which 
she never had sufficient leisure. In everything 
she has an exquisite naturalness, which is in- 
creased by a matchless sensibility. 

*' One ambition controls her life. She has 
but one, but it is all-absorbing. This is an ex- 
alted devotion to the grandeur of that family 
which she has helped to establish, and whose 
very soul she is. This is her one great passion, 
from which all others spring. Many mistakes 
have been made in regard to her. I have often 
heard senseless things said of her. The secret 
of her life lies here. Under its brilliant and 
mobile surface, even in her days of greatest tri- 
umph and of apparent intoxication, here lay the 
vital point of her heart, of her destiny." 

Since I am writing of M. Caro, I beg permis- 
sion to give here two other letters from him ; 
one full of expressions of affection, the other 
full of political sentiments. They are interest- 
ing from more than one point of view. The 
first refers to an event in social circles which 



THE EMPRESS AND SOCIETY. 1 59 

gave rise to the scandals which characterised 
the last years of the Empire. 

The Baronne de Mayendoff had given some 
tableaux in his house, Rue Barbet-de-Jouy, and 
the Comtesse de Castiglione, having appeared 
in them as a nun, had had her photograph 
taken. One of these photographs was sent to 
M. Caro, and, as usual, he fired up, and wrote 
the following answer : — 

You would be most kind if you would inform me to 
whom I may express my thanks for the beautiful photo- 
graph of a nun, which you have been so good as to send 
me ! What is the address of that mysterious nest which 
you were describing to us the other day so well, and which 
recalled the verses of Lamartine, — 

" Semes, setnes de narcisse et de rose., 
Semez le lit oil la beaute repose I " 

I know that this beautiful nun lives at Passy; but I 
have entirely forgotten the rest of the address of her to 
whom I would send my thanks and my profound regard. 

20 Rue Saint Maur, 
Monday Morning., Jan. 7, 1867. 

Would it not seem as if one were reading 
a passage from " Les Precieuses Ridicules " } 

The second letter is quite remarkable, and 
shows a political insight which is astonishing 
from this man, who was always a superficial 
thinker, and a most frivolous observer. This let- 



l6o THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

ter contains a thorough study, a satirical study, 
of the social world of the Second Empire ; it 
also contains certain predictions and statements 
which are unanswerable. It must be remem- 
bered that they were written at a time when 
the Empire was at the height of its power. 

I do not wish you to be able to accuse me of either 
inconsiderateness or forge tfulness, which you would not 
fail to do if I wrote to you there, where you must be rest- 
ing with so much joy from the painful excitement, the 
thankless and fruitless struggles, of the feverish and exas- 
perating life which one leads in Paris. This life is just 
as you left it ; in the foreground, haughty or servile ambi- 
tion, pride more and more puffed up by reputation and 
success, and those who think they have solved a problem, 
which grows more and more intricate, when they have 
made a fine phrase, or filled with gas an oratorical bal- 
loon : in the background, a crowd of intriguers, who spend 
their lives nursing their colossal pride, and in thinking 
everything is as it should be, when it would be so much 
better to tell them the truth, which is quite the opposite. 

Look at the official world, busy, excited, noisy, vain, 
composed of men who deceive others or allow themselves 
to be deceived ; forgetting themselves in their affairs ; only 
living from day to day, without any thought of to-morrow ; 
putting off the consideration of serious questions, and 
parodying the words of that great egoist, Louis XV., 
"After me, the deluge!" A majority in the Senate; a 
majority of the legislative body ; a majority of the minis- 
ters, is it not their secret formula and their unfaiHng 
means of escaping the necessity of thinking? 

And all this time the slow work of decomposition is 
going on amongst the men and things of this reign ; a 



THE EMPRESS AND SOCIETY. l6l 

vague anxiety for the future ; the clashing of opinions 
more and more suspicious, more and more irritable, like 
a great malady, which seeks an outlet in new hopes and 
in new horizons ; a secret indignation at neither having 
the promised freedom, which is ever postponed, nor the 
consolation of the victorious situations which have been 
lost. In all this there is at bottom a weak patriotism, 
which has not the courage for great enterprises ; a 
wounded patriotism, which would like to have, and dreams 
of, a great revenge, but won without either pain or peril. 
For fifteen years the situation has been unique ; full of 
vague desires more to be feared than attainable realities ; 
full of fears and anxieties, in seeing that nothing is yet on 
a firm foundation, nothing is established — and time is 
passing, nevertheless, always passing — that we are living 
in the midst of the precarious and the provisional, under 
the shelter of expedients which will not exist beneath the 
shadow of institutions which are being founded. To such 
an extent is this the case that the diplomatic postpone- 
ment of the war is not considered as an advantage ; or, at 
the best, as a lesser evil than the one that threatens, as 
a delay and a surcease, which will only profit the Exposi- 
tion Universelle, and not the country itself, which remains 
under the pall of the same necessity. 

But what is the use of telling you all this ; of the mal- 
ady of the present, and of the anxiety in regard to the 
future, and of the uncertain devotion, which only thinks, 
in the midst of all this difficulty, of getting its reward in 
pleasure, or pride, — or even in money. 

20 Rue Saint Maur, 
St. Germain, Paris, May ii, 1867. 

Alas ! all passes, all wearies, says the prov- 
erb. M. Caro was no longer in love with the 



1 62 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

domino, with ^^ rUliLsU^e inconnue^^ when he 
wrote these Unes, and he was singing the De 
Profundis — a De Profundis somewhat prema- 
ture — of her royalty ! But he spoke truly, he 
saw clearly, and this page marks with an indeli- 
ble stain the egotistical and criminal courtiers 
who surrounded the Emperor, who encouraged 
the Empress in abnormal frivolity, and who, 
with a fear of rival minds, kept away from the 
Imperial counsels all who were capable of giving 
renewed life to that Empire which was dying of 
anaemia, and spurned all advice capable of avert- 
ing the impending catastrophe of to-morrow. 



VI. 

THE ROMANCE OF A MARECHAL OF FRANCE. 

The Empress Eugenie did not monopolise all 
romantic experiences ; but she often instigated 
the love affairs of those about her, and caused 
them to play a part in a tragedy or comedy for 
her amusement — sometimes even in a vaude- 
ville. She believed in matrimony ; indeed, she 
was haunted by it, and under the influence of 
this besetting mania she made several matches 
during her reign, generally uncongenial ones. 
Thus she made the Marquis de Caux the im- 
presario of a singer. 

It would be ungracious not to call attention 
to the occasions when she was successful ; and, 
amongst these, we should mention the marriage 
of the Marechal Pelissier, Due de Malakoff, to 
Mile. Sophie de la Paniega, a first cousin of the 
Empress. 

This marriage, which in the beginning had all 
the charm of an idyl, would have no right to 
appear in this book, if it did not give me an 
opportunity to quote the letters which the Ma- 

163 



1 64 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

rechal wrote at this time, and to throw such 
hght on the character of this man, as will show 
him to be gentle, kind, and good, and with a 
poetic nature which we would not suspect, 
and which we still can scarcely attribute to 
him with positiveness. 

The Emperor and the Empress, as is well- 
known, took a trip into Brittany in 1858, and 
in the month of August of that same year they 
went to Cherbourg, where Queen Victoria vis- 
ited them. 

I have published in a preceding chapter a 
letter from the Empress which relates, in detail, 
her arrival at Cherbourg, and so will not en- 
large on the reception she received. 

The Marechal Pelissier, who had been for 
some time the French ambassador in London, 
was in the Emperor's suite ; and in the Em- 
press's suite Madame de Montijo was conspicu- 
ous as the chaperon of a charming young girl, 
Mile. Sophie de la Paniega. 

The Marechal Pelissier saw her who was to 
be his wife for the first time at church, on the 
occasion of a Te Deitm sung in honour of Napo- 
leon and the Empress. Mile, de la Paniega, in 
a contemplative attitude, kneeling on the floor 
of the cathedral, according to the Spanish cus- 
tom, made a deep impression on the mind and 



ROMANCE OF A MARECHAL OF FRANCE. 1 65 

heart of the Due de Malakoff. After this, 
would any one dare to be sceptical of love at 
first sight, so serviceable to the novelist ? 

As he was near one of the friends of the Em- 
press, he leaned over and asked her the name of 

the young woman. Mme. X smiled ; she 

told the Marechal the name of his fair charmer, 
and adding, " she is the woman, Marechal, that 
you ought to marry," left him to his own 
thoughts. 

Mme. X told the Empress of the con- 
versation she had had with the Marechal, and, 
the plan being approved, they arranged an intro- 
duction. 

The introduction took place that very even- 
ing at the prefecture, where there was a ball. 
Mile, de la Paniega appeared resplendently beau- 
tiful, in a simple white dress with a coral neck- 
lace about her neck. When she was told the 
wishes of the Marechal, she hesitated for several 
days before making up her mind to marry a 
man so much older than herself, whose apparent 
character and whose reputation for quick temper 
caused her some apprehension. 

But her hesitation did not last long, and, 
urged by the Empress, the marriage was ar- 
ranged. 

The Marechal sent his official request to Mme. 



1 66 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

de Monti] o; the wedding took place at Saint- 
Cloud ; and having camped out in an apartment 
which he owned in the Champs d'Elysees, he 
left for London with his young wife, where he 
was soon recalled to be sent to Algiers as 
Governor-General. 

A pretty anecdote has been told me of the 
Marechal Pelissier, relating to his traditional 
brutality ; and before producing his letters, or 
giving to the public his romance, I will relate 
it. 

It was some time before his marriage. Hav- 
ing an engagement at the house of the Comtesse 
de Montijo, he entrusted to two of his aides- 
de-camp some important and pressing busi- 
ness. 

In the course of the evening, he left the 
salon of the Empress, and in a moment was at 
his apartment ; when he returned, a few mo- 
ments later, his countenance bore the mark of 
an anger not yet entirely appeased. One of the 
ladies present, the very one who had introduced 
him to Mile, de la Paniega at Cherbourg, ques- 
tioned him. 

" What is the matter, Marechal .^ " she asked, 
" and what has happened } " " Matter enough," 
he answered abruptly, "my two aides-de-camp 
went to sleep over the work which I gave them 



ROMANCE OF A MARECHAL OF FRANCE. 167 

to do. But I vow they will not soon close 
their eyes again ; I have fixed them." To which 

Mme. X answered, " It is very wrong to 

lose your temper, Marechal ; and if you wish 
me to think you worthy of her who is to be 
your wife, you must promise me to be more 
indulgent." 

The Due de Malakoff suddenly softened, and 
with a look of astonishment: — "Then," he 
muttered, "you blame me 1 I was wrong. . . ." 

"Yes," replied the Comtesse, "you acted in 
an ungentlemanly manner." 

Whereupon this much-feared man arose. He 
again went out, and when he returned he went 
to Mme. X . 

"Well," he said, "am I still a boor.? I 
have just asked the pardon of my two thought- 
less fellows, and I have given them a holi- 
day until to-morrow. I am so happy myself 
that I do not wish any one about me to 
suffer." 

Does not this anecdote give a better impres- 
sion of the man than a long analysis 1 I must 
add that one of the officers so roughly handled 
by the Marechal, on this occasion, was named 
Appert, and has since made quite a name for 
himself. Now let us follow with the Due de 
Malakoff the progress of his love affair. 



1 68 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

Before Marriage} 

Cha-nti-l-ly, Ategtisi 13, 1858. 

I hastened, on leaving you, to go to Saint-Cloud to 
make my visit to the Prince Imperial, H. M. had gone 
out walking, and I chatted with the governess and Mme. 
Bizot for two hours while I was waiting. These ladies 
wished to discuss English and French politics, and ended 
by being hopelessly muddled. I tried to lead them in the 
right way ; but it is diiiicult for one man to hold his own 
with two women in politics. Finally, the young Prince 
came in. I found him well, little inclined to talk, but a 
very kind and gentle child. From there I went to see 
Waubert, and dined with his family ; and did not go to 

V until this morning. I brought back a beautiful 

basket of flowers and fruit, and two rings, which I left on 
my way home to dress. I returned to breakfast ; the 
breakfast I spoke of took place to-day. Sophie was beau- 
tiful and kind, though somewhat sad. I was asked to 
write on my arrival in London ; I am writing from Chan- 
tilly. The Comtesse had said : " You will write to us.'' I 
said I would ; and I asked VL\y fiancee if she understood 
that I was to write to her directly. She answered in 
the affirmative. In leaving I took the bracelet which 
you had advised me to return. I was obliged to add to 
it the case which I marked S. P. It will be delivered 
to the Comtesse to-morrow with my card. I have noti- 
fied these ladies of this, so everything looks promis- 
ing. 

It seems that the Empress has spoken well of m-e to 
her mother. We parted on very friendly terms. They 

1 The letters which follow are all addressed to Mme. X , 

that friend of the Empress whom the Marechal had questioned 
in the cathedral. 



ROMANCE OF A MARECHAL OF FRANCE. 1 69 

did not want to let me go. It was time for the train, and 
I excused myself without being in the least rude. One 
would think to see us together, notwithstanding our re- 
serve, that we had loved each other for a long time. This 
is your work, and for my part I am very grateful to 
you. 

You are quite right, the last rose was white ; it is very 
well preserved. I verified it this morning by lifting a 
cloth which covers the etageres. . . . 

Albert Gate House, Atcgust 15, 1858. 
DjioRNO DE Maria Adena: 

Long live the Emperor ! We prayed for him this 
morninof. We will drink his health to-night with that of 
the Queen of Great Britian. We will think of the Em- 
press, the Prince Imperial, of you also, with thoughts 
of whom I have begun the day. I must confess I did 
not expect a meeting so soon. Think how many formali- 
ties must be attended to before a wedding? As I have 
said, when the Comtesse de Montijo has been entirely 
endorsed, I will go ahead. But I cannot anticipate the 
decision of her father, which might be in the negative, 
then what a blunder ! And what a delay, in preven- 
ting the daughter from using the rights which the code 
allows her in regard to matrimony. Between ourselves, 
our dear Empress wants to go ahead like a steam engine, 
and you, my Egeria, in all this seem to urge me on with- 
out reflection to do things the consequences of which 
might be unforeseen. I would not like to share the fate of 
the credulous dupe of the fox ; but the moral is a good 
one to appropriate. " In all things consider the end," and 
never rush into them foolishly. Have you yourself forgot- 
ten the saying? " Chi va piano va sano, et chi va sano va 
lontajioy This is my sincere wish. If the Empress wishes, 



I/O THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

for convenience' sake, that I go to the chapel at Biarritz, I 
will go, and there 

^^ Nous contractons tous deux, 
Cette ti7iion cherie.^ 
Qui seule rend hetireux,^^ 

as the saving goes. 

Has she not celebrity, the abode of trust? 

Without trying to draw a parallel — the sources are 
analogous — the place in my judgment would be well 
chosen. A little far away for one of the witnesses ; but 
it will enable him to know the frontier better, Bayonne, 
and the St. Esprit, his patron saint. I suppose you sent 
my dispatch, word for word, to the Empress. 

I kiss your hand, and I beg you to do all you can to 
temper an ardour which in any one but the Empress would 
be injudicious." 

Albert Gate 'Hovs'e, August 8, 1858. 

I answer your letter of yesterday at once, to prove to 
you both my eagerness and my docility. 

You must know, that I desire as much as any one 
that events be hastened with judgment ; but as say the 
ancients, to everything its own time, its own pace. To 
hasten matters does no good, and often does harm. I 
was certainly overjoyed that the Empress should fix the 
happy day which will bring such a great and such a de- 
lightful change in my life ; which comes to give me rest, 
to give me new life, new conditions. But since the date 
for leaving Biarritz is too near for arrangements to be 
properly carried out, it is necessary that we should be re- 
signed, and wait patiently until our a-rrival at Saint- 
Cloud. This I will willingly do, though I wish the time 
might be shorter. I waited patiently for two months until 
our captured goods, trophies, stores, and our army were 



ROMANCE OF A MARECHAL OF FRANCE. I/I 

re-embarked before I myself started, last of all, for the 
desired goal — my native land. Can I not wait for six 
weeks for a wreath of flowers mixed with laurel to de- 
scend upon my head like a benediction ? I have absolute 
confidence in the good sense of ray Jiajicee, and I hope 
she will understand and agree with me. I also have faith 
in your interest in us^ and I think you will bring each of 
us to a settled decision and to still more reasonable 
actions. It was in Africa on the 2d of October that I was 
made superior officer. It is twenty-eight years ago, just 
about the age of my future wife ; and if it is not a great 
anniversary, it will at least be a day made happy by so 
much joy. 

I must try to be cheerful during this time. Nothing 
seems easier for me, and 1 hope it will not be difficult for 
you to carry out. Yuu will invite the Comtesse de Mon- 

tijo and her dear ward to spend a few days at . I 

will arrange, for the same time, a visit at the Baronne 
Barbier. Sophie and I would not be under the same roof; 
but we could see each other with others present, occa- 
sionally ; when propriety would allow, alone. Circum- 
stances would arrange themselves, time would pass, and 
finally we should go to Saint-Cloud to receive that benedic- 
tion which is the object of our wishes, of theirs, and of 
yours. Tell me frankly what you think. We will have 
charades, and do the many things appropriate to the 
country. It is impossible that we should be bored. You 
see how self-possessed I am. It is a blessing from heaven 
to see calm increase according to the necessity for it. 

You did right to send the dispatch to the Empress. I 
have not yet received the letter which Her Majesty told 
you she wrote me. It perhaps went astray at Saint-Cloud, 
and I may receive it any moment. I await it with respect 
and gratitude. 

I hope the health of your dear child is better. That 



1/2 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

child requires a great deal of care. You see that although 
I am not the father of a family, I have at least the heart 
of one. 

Au revoi?', beautiful white rose; azi revoir, my guard- 
ian angel. I am not the only man who has been made 
humble by affection, by good breeding, and perfect man- 
ners. You cannot imagine how glad I am to see you take 
so i^uch interest in the consummation of my happiness. 
I kiss your hand, and I only ask for one of those angelic 
smiles which come involuntarily. 

Albert Gate House, Atigust 22, 1858. 

The mail came very late this morning, and it was only 
by running that I was able to send my answer. There 
has been a deluge of rain, there must have been a storm 
at sea, and the weather this morning is treacherous. 

You have learned by telegram that I had received the 
Empress's letter. I had already answered hers when 
yours came. 

I hasten to tell you that I have given you full power, 
and will raise my note to the amount you mention as 
the cost of the corbeille ; so that there will be about eigh- 
teen thousand more, although it is nearly double the first 
figure, which was not to exceed twenty thousand. Do 
architects, who are famous for making additional charges, 
go so far? I doubt it. Well, I will have a good wife, 
very gentle and well provided for ; nine thousand francs 
worth of laces, a cashmere shawl for six thousand, a dress 
for six hundred, and furs for three thousand, and eighteen 
thousand francs worth of diamonds. I have omitted the 
twelve hundred for fur gloves, parasols, and fans. I must 
add to this, since we must begin by passing under the 
Caudine Forks of happiness, a travelling bag, which is 
considered very important here. I will buy it at . 



ROMANCE OF A MARECHAL OF FRANCE. 1 73 

Give whatever orders you wish before you leave. I will 
trouble you not less surely than the legislative body trou- 
bles the minister. Since it is the woman's share to 
furnish the trousseau, I congratulate her on the kind 
intention of the Empress. I hope Her Majesty will not 
entirely throw my co?-beille in the shade. It is quite 
enough that / should be, and I am yet to have my 
first debt. I am not sure that I will come out safe 
without this embarrassment. You acted wisely to order 
the jewels from across the Pyrenees to be set with dia- 
monds, and to extend this order to the others. I have 
given but few jewels in^my life ; but since my return from 
the Crimea my jeweller is Sentier et Tugot, Rue de la 
Paix. I shall be glad if you can give them some work 
to do. 

The diamonds are to be in two " r/T/Z^r^i-," unique oc- 
casion ! One " rivib'e " is enough to drown a man. Ah ! 
but we must have a duchess's diadem. The Emperor 
owes me a ducal crown, since he made me a duke. It 
would be very kind of him to furnish me with a duchess's 
crown also. 

I have nothing more to say unless I add that I am 
happy, and that I will be everlastingly grateful to you for 
the great kindness which has led you to take charge of 
this undertaking. The thoughtful ness you have put into 
all these small matters connected with the ins and outs of 
happiness doubles my gratitude. In a letter, all perfume, 
all love, muffled in furs, draped with a cashmere shawl, 
under the rich, undulating folds o^a velvet dress, you beg 
me not to dismiss your friend Roux. If I promised it, you 
have no right to ask it, for I always keep my promises. I 
admit for an instant that it was necessary. You remind me 
[here there is an omission] of the domino who thought 
she was asking the pardon of El Apuntador. I have never 
been unkind to this good Roux ; I have commanded, and 



174 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

I have said I expected to be obeyed . . . parbleti, Mar6- 
chal Vaillant spoke one day of my " rebellious nature." 
I am quite docile to any one who has the right to command 
me. But when I command, when I try to restore order 
where disorder has been the normal condition of thing's, 
when I point out simple precautions, very judicious ar- 
rangements, and some one comes and talks to me of the 
sympathy inspired by the housekeeper of Mme. de Brunow, 

or the tailor of M , that it is indispensable that your 

pocketbook be opened for dogs, I think the situation is 
revolting and ridiculous, and I say what I think without 
reserve. I am not surprised that M. Roux is not under- 
stood, for it is easy to scandalise, and I have always taken 
him for a Lafontaine or a Bernardin de St. Pierre on a 
small scale, carrying order and economy to such an 
extreme that he portions out crumbs to the sparrows, 
from time to time, from his breakfast. But I beheve 
when he knew that I wanted to establish sound doctrines, 
to give the chaacellor a dignity which nothing on earth 
would make him forget, he went to work on the lines 
indicated, where he has continued and will continue 
always. He needed nothing more to win my good will. 
He has it entirely. Is this using him harshly? No ! 

This is the secret of any good acts I may have done 
in my life, this is the reason of my splendid career ; and 
if Socialism tried to lift its head, and if some other man, 
the Emperor having disappeared, tried to make an attack 
on the rights of the Regent, to limit or to modify the 
rights of the Prince Imperial, I would throw myself across 
his path, I would kill the factious person, whoever he was ; 
and, if I did not succeed, I would allow myself to be killed 
under the belfry rather than to fly as others have done, as 
I never have and never will. Only well-tempered souls 
attain their end. They have outbursts which the vulgar 
cannot understand at first, but which they end by under- 



ROMANCE OF A MARECHAL OF FRANCE. 175 

standing, however, and by approving, for they are but 
small defects, inseparable from these fine qualities, which 
are valuable and devoted to good, notwithstanding. Why 
do you not honour with your natural solicitude the secre- 
taries and attaches who had to be disciplined also, that is, 
most of them ; the bell is cast, and all progresses as it 
should in such a community. There is something won- 
derful in the fact that he who commanded 120,000 men, 
heroes of all kinds I admit, but heroes notwithstanding, 
should have to struggle with the control of an embassy 
of five or six gentlemen, — more gentlemen than working- 
men, — a chancellor, and a record-office. This could not 
be ; light has come for all, and everything progresses 
without impediment. They are what they should be. 
Doubtless the gentleness of Sophie, her kindness min- 
gled with simplicity, will soften insensibly this waste ; 
but in waste places there are more or less diamonds, and 
no one has a right to depreciate their value. The com- 
parison does not show humility, I confess, but even if we 
exaggerate to produce an effect at a distance, when an 
honest man, a good chief, one of the best in the service, 
is attacked, he has a right to rise in his defence. But, 
resolute as Sicamber, though less proud, he can kneel 
before gentleness, before beauty, and thank it for the 
attack made, not without injustice, although it had its 
origin in a good intention ; but which, in compensation, 
gives him an opportunity to make a sincere confession of 
faith. Love me a little, tell me the truth always, and in 
the end you will see that I deserve it. 

I understand that because of all this necessity for 
travel my Champrosay project is reduced to a Utopian 
pastoral. I fall back on my philosophy and let time come 
to my rescue. I hope day after to-morrow to be able to 
reach Paris. I shall remain there eight days, and then 
return to London, which I will leave again ; then you 



17^ THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

will all come back, and we shall be united by your good 
prayers and the blessing of heaven. 

Paris, August 27, 1858. 

You must know how much I regretted not seeing you 
on my arrival in Paris, for it is surely you whom I most 
wanted to see ; you whom I wished to thank for your 
kind maternal solicitude, for taking an interest in me, in 
my establishment, in my lover's pride, and giving me the 
care of the best of mothers. If my stay in Paris were 
not so short, and if I did not have a kind vampire who 
keeps watch over my hours, who considers as stolen 
those which are not spent with her or for her, I would 
go to Vichy to kiss your hand. Well ! you will return 
both from Vichy and from Biarritz, and what you have 
begun so affectionately, so graciously, God will look upon 
as the work of an angel ; and this angel having become 
my good angel, God will finish the work. 

Coming down to more commonplace things, I sup- 
pose you have taken every step necessary to finish the 
corbeille. By the advice of Lady Cowley, to whom I 
confided your eagerness, I will add to your list, which I 
approved in every particular in my preceding letter, a trav- 
elling bag which I ordered in London. I must also pro- 
vide a prayer-book. I must think of this, I whose rustic 
and wild ways have had so many victims, who, fortunately 
for her, are all doing well. I take advantage of this 
opportunity to tell you, my charming accuser, famous for 
your thoughtlessness, that far from blaming you for 
speaking to me in regard to the placid chancellor, I am 
very grateful to you for giving me an opportunity of mak- 
ing myself better known to you. This, I hope, will be 
the last protocol against my rebellious nature and my 
imaginary victims. However this may be, I am not a 
lion, but if I were one, for you I would muffle my claws 



ROMANCE OF A MARECHAL OF FRANCE. 177 

and would sleep peacefully at your feet. Do not be 
anxious about my promise. Like you, she is kind and 
gentle ; like you, she is beautiful. Heaven will, doubtless, 
give her beautiful children like yours. Why should I not 
lie at her feet with equal tranquillity of mind. I have 
always been a lion to my enemies or to the rebellious, 
but kind to the laborious, the dutiful, the docile, and the 
well-disciplined. This then is well understood. And 
now let us speak of her, of myself, of everything a little. 
At five o'clock on the 25th I was at the station. M. 
Barbier and her father were also there, and Julien arrived 
like the refreshing dew. At eleven I was at table in the 
neighbourhood, which I did not leave until two o'clock to 
go to Saint-Cloud. I hoped to be able to see you the next 
day, and was on my way thither when I received your 
letter, which stopped me short. I had seen the Empress. 
Her mother and her ward, who were dining at a banker's, 
were counting on me for the opera. The Empress thought 
this would be shocking and I stayed away. From Saint- 
Cloud I went to Chaville to see the family de Bar and Wau- 
bert de Genlis, and at Viroflay to see the family Appert; 
the evening I spent at home, assorting and classifying my 
papers. I arose early to write, breakfasted with the Em- 
press, the Emperor having gone to hunt at St. Germain 
with Lord Palmerston. I did not see the ladies before 
breakfast, but they were expected at Saint-Cloud where 
I remained until four o'clock. I left to dress for dinner at 
St. Gratien, whence I returned at midnight. To-day I 
breakfast with a friend, the former head of the depart- 
ment of public instruction in the days of citizen Vaula- 
belle. I will call to see my neighbours, then I will go to 
Champrosay to meet his Royal Highness the Prince in 
charge of the ministry of Algiers. Hereafter I will 
dine there every day. Such is my life ; one thing is 
wanting — an hour spent at Vichy, a good talk, and after 



178 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

that I will return with joy to the black tablet of which I 
will speak this morning. My notary will go to whoever 
the comtesse advises. What notaries arrange are money 
matters and the consequences of death. I have seen them 
in '■'■ Les Faux Bo7ishonimes.'''' What women arrange are 
roses and the finery of the future. However this may be, 
I await my orders from you. 

Write to me from Vichy. Aiix Eaux, it must be a 
good fortune to be obliged to write. Throw me some 
crumbs of this good fortune. They would be for me what 
manna was to the children of Israel in the desert. I 
write you between the lines of a gentleman who seeks 
my custom. 1 God grant, for his sake, that you have given 
him yours. 

Albert Gate House, September 4, 1858. 

I have received your two letters and I thank you for 
them. I have been to Champrosay twice. The first time 
to meet the minister of Algeria, the second with the com- 
tesse and my betrothed. She had a great success. I also 
was successful before the Prince in the charade — 

Mir-lit-on. 

All the travelling bags and other bags make me want 
to go to the devil ! I am waiting for your return to decide. 
You will see by the bill that M. Audot has very variable 
prices. 

I do not understand your hesitation in regard to Biar- 
ritz. I am more of a traveller than you imagine. I do 
not yet know what day the sovereign will fix for the mar- 
riage. There is a Friday which is in the way and which 
the majority do not favour. 

I have given my betrothed a watch which was con- 

1 This letter, in fact, is written between the Hnes of a request con- 
taining an offer of services, on the occasion of the marriage of the 
Marechal, and signed by a M, Cayal, manufacturer of umbrellas. 



ROMANCE OF A MARECHAL OF FRANCE. 1 79 

sidered to be in good taste, and some pure white ostrich 
feathers. 

I add to this a fnenthe poivree and a scabious of the 
Chateau d'Arques which I had not seen for forty-two 
years, and which I visited yesterday morning by some 
odd fancy. 

Absinthe is my favourite drink. 

Albert Gate House, Sepietnber 27, 1858. 
More to me than an Egeria you have forsaken some- 
what him v/ho is not over-proud of being a Pompilius ; 
but, though you deserted him, you have come back again, 
and he covers you with benedictions. Tuesday, the 12th, 
suits me perfectly, and I thank my sovereign. Now I have 
told the ministers that I will leave England the night of 
the 1st or 2d of October. But I say to you and to my 
friend, who will forgive me this little deceit for the sake 
of such a short fifteen days, that I will be in Paris, sub- 
ject to your orders, on September 29th, the day of the 
patron of the Russians, but a powerless patron saint 
nine years ago. This memory, recalled by our friend 
to the minister, will doubtless cause him to be obli- 
ging. 

Mme. de Montebello is as capricious as she is kind 
and beautiful, and did not consider seriously that, in fact, 
I was not entirely fulfilling my promise. To punish her I 
will avoid her kind and intelligent eyes on the 12th of 
October. As to you, I will do my best to see you, who 
are only guilty of a little forgetfulness, for which you so 
graciously have made amends. 

It is decided that I will breakfast at the Hotel d'Albe. 
Let me know there, please, or at No. 115, the hour at 
which, gracious Comtesse with the beautiful hair and bril- 
liant eyes, you will be visible. I will find you more dex- 
terously than B. or the illustrious Leverrier." 



l8o THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

October 7, 1858. 

We are playing at pantomime. We see each other 
without speaking, and each more in haste than the other. 
You disappear. The price of the corbeille alone seems 
to remain fixed and unmoved ; but money troubles do 
not kill, it is said, and I love x^j fiancee too much to allow 
a continually growing debt to disturb me. You know 
my feelings of gratitude ; could I find fault with you ? 

It is decided that the contract will be signed dans 
Vesbrouff 2iS at first decided on. 

Monday the 1 1 th at nine o'clock ; at the Hotel d'Albe ; 
the witnesses and a few friends present. 

Tuesday, the 12th, at five o'clock, civil marriage, Rue 
d'Anjou St. Honor6. In the evening a party at Saint- 
Cloud. Then nuptial benediction, when I will bless high 
heaven and its angels, amongst whom I rank you. 

Paris, October 11, 1858. 

A thousand thanks for the beautiful pencil holder. 
From what I hear this morning I think we will be most 
fortunate if we have the corbeille to-night at the Hotel 
d'Albe. Let us act accordingly. 

After the Wedding. . 

Paris, October 13, 1858. 

After a happy evening comes the quarter of an hour 
of Rabelais; it is often so in the affairs of this world. 
You had full power and I give you a bill of indemnity ; we 
cannot do right if we do not follow the proprieties — like 
all ministers, you have been obliged to turn to supplemen- 
tary credit. It would be very ungracious to find fault 
with you, as I have already said. I love you too sincerely 
to do such a thing. It would even be ungracious in the 



ROMANCE OF A MARECHAL OF FRANCE. l8l 

Marechale, who deserves all you have done for her. Ap- 
pert is going to profit by your economical suggestions 
and pay the merchants at once ; there is one thing that 
cannot be repaid, that is friendship, devotion, such per- 
fect and gracious kindness as you have shown to me 
and to the charming companion, whom God has given 
me for my remaining days, a kindness so great that you 
will have our eternal gratitude. 

Your faithful friend, 

M^^^ Pelissier. 

Cordially approved by 

]y[ALE j)E Malakoff. 

Albert Gate House, October 20, 185S. 

Your work so well begun, completes itself, and, Deo 
volente, will reach perfection. We had a delightful, gay, 
and interesting voyage. 

At three o'clock we were a-t Blakwal, where we were 
sympathetically received. Our carriages were brought to 
us as quickly as possible, where our commonplace sur- 
roundings absorbed us the rest of that day and the next. 
We walked about, billed and cooed, and voila ! 

Already more than a quarter [here an illegible word] 
passed with that joy which one would expect to find only 
in Mont Hymette, and with which we are both radiant. 
The Comte has disappeared, and it is Sophia who capti- 
vates the attention of the astronomers, and even of those 
who are not. . . . 

Albert Gate House, November 3 1S58. 
{Evening}} 

As far as I am concerned, if I had m^'self taken the 
Marechale from the side of our first father, I could not 
have improved her. " That companion of man who is 
the ornament of our existence, who elevates and blesses 



1 82 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

us,'' could not be more to my taste, and I find her all that 
I require to make me happy. If she does not mutiny, 
she will be a perfect wife, and this will be the case, for 
she shows a gentleness, a goodness, an amiable intelli- 
gence, and a saintly admiration for her husband. 

Have a good time at Compi^gne. I wish I could be 
there to dine with you, but I am not there ! I have been 
so much in Paris lately that I have no great desire to 
return there soon. 

Here the correspondence of the Marechal 
Pelissier concerning his marriage stops. It is 
interesting, and throws a light on the character 
of the man, about whom there seem to be many 
traditions. 

It is curious, too, in that it shows the inces- 
sant preoccupation of the Due de Malakoff on 
the subject of money, and a morbid mind might 
discover a fugitive doubt running through the 
correspondence, whether the union might not 
prove to be expensive, and lead him into debt. 

There is an occasional sadness, too, in these 
letters. 

I It is only the letter written after his marriage 
which is free from anxiety and the haunting 
remembrance of bills unpaid. 

A curious and very characteristic coincidence, 
too, is that this young woman has scarcely left 
the chapel when she is told of the anxieties of 
her husband, and writes her thanks, placing her 



ROMANCE OF A MARECHAL OF FRANCE. 1 83 

signature on that very paper, which, far from 
containing a poem of joy, is but a summary of 
bills, and states once again the trouble that it 
gives the old soldier to pay for a corbeille, which 
alone, in this whole adventure, to use his own 
expression, was perfectly satisfactory. 

In conclusion, did the Marechal Pelissier go 
to his wedding with the youthful enthusiasm 
accredited to him by certain biographers ? It 
is doubtful ! And, in reading his romance, does 
it not appear that the spontaneity, the sweet 
oblivion and rapture of the all-absorbing passion 
which the humble lover experiences, has its 
value ? 



VII. 

THE EMPRESS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 

From the time of the Empire dates that in- 
vasion of strangers, real or imaginary milKon- 
aires, which has since then taken possession of 
Paris. 

Their character at that time was much the 
same as it is now. 

Luxuriously established, generally under the 
shadow of the Arc de Triomphe, they throw 
over Paris, as from a balcony to a crowd below, 
. . . their rastaquoiiere money, and sometimes 
money honestly earned. They encamp amongst 
us like travellers on the alert. 

In fact, if, at Paris, foreigners easily triumph, 
they fall with equal ease, in spite of the jingle 
of their gold, which often becomes a stumbling- 
block. 

Paris, indulgent to the rich, even to those who 
have come by crooked ways from the country 
of ranches, bows in salutation, without any stiff- 
ness in the knees, to each new-comer. 

She accepts his invitations, appears at his func- 

184 



THE EMPRESS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 1 85 

tions, drinks his wine, devours his food, borrows 
his money, is carried away as irrationally as a 
girl. Then a very natural thing happens. The 
lights extinguished, the violins silent, digestion 
finished, Paris, a little surprised at her own in- 
fatuation, seeks for information. And, all of a 
sudden, at a single word of slander, for a doubt- 
ful and futile reason, she frowns on him to whom 
the night before she did reverence. Paris, in 
imitation of M. Choufleury, stays at home ; and, 
alas ! for the foreigner who would venture to 
approach her. The reception was exaggerated, 
as the condemnation is, in the extreme. But so 
it is. Nothing could efface the sentence of its 
world. The unfortunate foreigner is isolated, 
and becomes an outcast. Occasionally the con- 
demned one resents the insult. He fights 
against the edict of society. But the fight is 
short-lived ; the strongest grow tired of this 
cruel game. The victim, exhausted, resolves to 
flee the big city and its scorn. But he comes 
back again, bitterness in his heart. If he is 
enthusiastic or honest, a smile is on his lips ; if 
he is sceptical or vicious, muttering the nursery 
rhyme, — 

" N'ous n''iro7is phis ati bois, 
Les latiriers sont coiipes. ..." 

However, the world is not so cruel to every 



1 86 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

one. There are some amongst the foreigners 
who find favour. Society, in its hatred as in its 
affections, is impenetrable. Almost every year 
meteors cross the Parisian sky, shining with all 
the colours of the rainbow, coming from we 
know not where, going we know not whither. 
Every year society takes its spy-glass and 
watches the evolution of the new star. These 
meteors have human forms, sometimes fallen 
princes fleeing from the anger of their people 
or of their relatives ; nabobs born, some of them, 
in the jungles of Africa ; slave dealers who have 
retired from business ; tradesmen having made 
a fortune in hams or sewing-machines ; even 
scoundrels. The scoundrel, the dealer in sew- 
ing-machines or slaves, the nabob, will see doors 
open to them which are closed to the prince 
and the brave retailer of hams. Where shall we 
find the reason for this .^ Society could not 
itself analyse the motive which controls it. 

Two women especially, Mmes. de Metternich 
and Castiglione, of whom I will speak further 
on, helped the Empress to encourage foreigners 
to come to Paris under the Empire. To-day 
they have no leaders of such high rank. 

Like everything else, Parisian society has 
been influenced by the bourgeoisie, and I doubt 



THE EMPRESS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 1 8/ 

if there is one real prince in its ranks. sHow- 
ever, even in their fall, in their dethronement, 
the foreigners remain the rulers of Paris. It is 
with great facility that strangers introduce them- 
selves among us ; and they profit by it.-^ 

Foreigners who are received in society are 
numerous in Paris. The hospitality is great 
which reaches from the real prince to a prince of 
Bohemia dreaming in his furnished room ; even 
to the beau, with or without a title, in search of 
an adventure which will be to his advantage. 

The world refuses its recognition to some ; but 
it rushes eagerly to receive certain Italianised 
duchesses of recent date. 

The duchess is very austere on the question 
of precedence ; she reigns in the midst of her 
salon, and about her are chairs of different styles 
and dimensions, of different degrees of luxuri- 
ousness. For a baroness, a stool ; for a countess, 
a chair ; for a marchioness, an armchair. The 
duchess, like a monarch, crowns the seats of 
her guests, as formerly the king crowned the 
heads of his friends. 

However, the proud beauties of both banks of 
the 'Seine think this arrangement of the duchess 
very clever, very amusing, and they bow to her 
authority quite humbly. It was this same ple- 
beian duchess of low birth who, on receiving the 



1 88 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

news of his promotion, telegraphed her good hus- 
band, who was absent at the time, " Sir, you are 
a duke ;" and who received immediately the fol- 
lowing answer, which contains a lesson of wis- 
dom and good sense, " Madame, you are crazy." 
This exoticism — behold a paradox ! — is essen- 
tially Parisian. Paris is the atmosphere in 
which it thrives. To attempt to uproot it would 
be to uselessly imitate Don Quixote. Foreign- 
ers have a way of taking possession of Paris, 
which remains their secret and their power. 

Their wives are superb, well-poised, with mo- 
bile and red lips ; their daughters have bold 
eyes and undulating attitudes ; their men have 
sunburned faces which suggest romantic adven- 
tures in the past, they are also well built and 
strong. What more could Paris want for its 
amusement, or to inspire its imagination .'* 
These foreigners, with the assurance of ribalds 
sacking a city, assume a lofty tone towards the 
great town, which does not prevent it from 
opening its arms to them — and more, as sub- 
missively as a girl to the country lad who uses 
her harshly. 

Paris, losing patience, sometimes rebels. But 
these revolts do not last. But momentary, they 
are soon followed by renewed civilities. Let a 
Brazilian, an Armenian, a Turk, new and un- 



THE EMPRESS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 1 89 

known meteors, appear upon the scene, and 
Paris, regretting the severity shown to those 
whom it scorned, will ask for sandwiches and 
champagne from the new-comers ; and herein 
lies the secret of this moral question. 

The ill-nature of the world, a natural instinct 
also, threw the Empress Eugenie into this cos- 
mopolitan society, which asked for nothing bet- 
ter at this time than official recognition ; and the 
salons of the Tuileries were filled by a crowd 
who felt all the more at home in them, in 
that their origin was not considered, and that 
they were seldom called to account for their 
morality. 

This foreign element was, as far as the Em- 
press was concerned, the result of the scorn of 
the royalists ; and it would appear that she only 
gathered about her these light men and women, 
who transformed her house into a sort of Babel, 
to help her to forget the slight, or better to re- 
venge herself. 

At first she was surrounded by a set of 
women with bold glances and bolder lips, a set 
of women with masculine ways, eccentric tastes, 
feverish desires, a seductive and compromising 
laugh ; who were like a mixed assemblage of 
strange sultanas, whose nationality, whose dif- 
ference of birth, disappeared before a common 



M 



190 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

end, that of pleasure. These women have been 
given a title by chroniclers, cocodettes ; in his- 
tory they have a name, that of Women of the 
Empire, and I beg to call attention here to a 
page which I devoted to them several years ago. 

The Women of the Empire, I said, have left 
a reputation of their own. They remain as the 
absolute embodiment of a period devoted to 
voluptuous longing for sensual pleasure, to the 
feverishness of intense desires. In the unset- 
tled morals of this period, men were but dumb 
and unconscious actors. The women had the 
largest share of responsibility. Their sensual- 
ity, the sighs of passion with which their 
bosoms heaved, charmed the men. They loved 
easily and madly then. 

Amongst these women, two foreigners espe- 
cially attracted attention and preoccupied the 
Empress each in her own way — Mmes. de 
Metternich and de Castiglione. 

As to the others, less adventurous by nature, 
they made but a momentary and superficial 
impression on the mind of the sovereign. 

Mme. de Metternich was apparently the 
friend of the Empress Eugenie, Mme. de Cas- 
tiglione was openly hostile to her. She even 
tried to rival her, and at one time successfully ; 
from these relations resulted on one side a 



THE EMPRESS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 19I 

friendship which continues to exist, on the 
other a hatred which can only be destroyed by 
death. 

These two women both had real titles, not 
only from the point of view of the sovereign, 
but from that of the public also. 

The Princess de Metternich was homely, 
witty, original, and of a bluntness bordering on 
insolence, and yet she never ceased to be the 
gi^aiide dame that she was by birth. 

Very dignified with the Empress, she was 
also the most distinguished in her ways of all 
the women of the court. Worldly in the ex- 
treme, fond of literature and art, and especially 
of music, her salon was open almost every night 
to numerous friends — politicians for the most 
part, whom she used to keep up with the Tuil- 
eries a constant intimacy, and to have over the 
decisions of the Empress an influence which 
was undeniable. 

Mme. de Metternich, I have said in a former 
chapter, seemed to have undertaken to bring 
into discredit with public opinion the customs 
of the Imperial court, by the eccentricity, by 
the folly, by the equivocal and suspicious ways 
which she introduced as the fashion at the 
Tuileries. Her influence, in fact, did not have 
a happy effect upon the fate of the enterprises 



192 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

of Napoleon III. and his wife ; and if this were 
the proper place to examine the sincerity of the 
sentiments which the Prince de Metternich and 
the ambassadress professed for the Emperor 
and the Empress, we would be disposed to ask 
whether these two people from the time of their 
arrival in France did not play a comedy, the 
comedy of friendship, in order to bring about 
the fall of this man, whom at heart they could 
not have loved. I do not wish to pass a rash 
judgment on them, and will merely afhrm that 
the ultra-liberal attitude of the Princess de 
Metternich, approved of and imitated by the 
women of the court, was the cause of the first 
revulsion of feeling against the Empire. 

The Princess de Metternich, irreproachable 
as a wife — strange contrast — was the cause 
of trouble and impropriety at the Court of the 
Tuileries. Imposing her whims on the Em- 
press, who only saw with her eyes or heard 
with her ears, she made of this court, which 
should have answered the raillery of foreign 
courts by its absolute decorum, a playground 
for children. 

Her adventure with Theresa, the popular 
singer and the suburban genius, is well known. 
She had her brought to the Tuileries, and, after 
having taken lessons from her, imitated her in 



THE EMPRESS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 1 93 

the most marvellous way, to the great agitation 
of those who were distressed at her folly. 

Mme. de Metternich, whose audacity was be- 
yond words, even succeeded in having the cele- 
brated singer received in the old quarter and 
on the occasion of a ball at the Duchesse de 
Galliera's she had her presented to the en- 
tire nobility of France, who were most indig- 
nant. 

A young girl, Mile, de L , taught the 

ambassadress a lesson. As Theresa was about 
to sing, she rose, and, going straight to the Due 
d'H , a very clever man, said to him : — 

" Do you think. Monsieur le Due, that the 
time has come when a young girl should with- 
draw } " 

The nobleman smiled, and pointing to the 
nuncio, Mgr. Chigi, who was present on this 
occasion and was not disposed to flee from 
Theresa, answered, — 

" Why should you leave. Mademoiselle } 
Where the nuncio is, I suppose there can be no 
danger for a young girl." 

As to Mme. de Metternich, when this inci- 
dent was told her, she merely shrugged her 
shoulders. 

" Ah ! the old wigs even on young heads," 
she exclaimed, " I have put them out of curl." 



194 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

She had this readiness of speech which caused 
her to be both feared and sought after. 

In this she was Hke her mother-in-law — the 
wife of the Prince of Metternich, famous in 
the Congress of Vienna, one of whose replies 
nearly caused a rupture between France and 
Austria. 

It was during the reign of King Louis Philippe, 
M. le Comte de St. Aulaire being ambassador to 
Vienna. On the occasion of a ball at court, 
the comte having approached the princess, and 
having paid her a compliment on the crown 
which she wore, received the following answer 
— which in order to understand, one must know 
that its author hated the King of France, con- 
sidering him as a usurper of the throne. 

" Yes, indeed. Monsieur I'Ambassadeur," she 
said, looking the Comte de St. Aulaire straight 
in the face, " my crown is very beautiful ; I 
assure you that it belongs to me, and that I did 
not steal it." 

Then, turning her back on the diplomat, she 
left him. 

On recovering from his amazement he left 
the ball abruptly, and notified the Parisian cabi- 
net of the fact. Alas ! wit makes cruel mis- 
takes ; the Princess de Metternich was obliged, 
by command, a few days after her outburst, to 



THE EMPRESS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 1 95 

go to the embassy of France and to offer in 
person an apology to our representative. 

Mme. de Metternich, she in whom we are 
interested, also encountered a disagreeable ex- 
perience during an evening party at the house 

of the Archduke V , where the Emperor and 

the Empress of Austria were present. Having 
presented herself very late, on being affection- 
ately reproached with her tardy arrival by the 
Archduke, who told her that the sovereign had 
arrived some time before, and had asked for her 
several times, Mme. de Metternich drew herself 
up and answered, — 

" Indeed, has the Empress been concerned 
about me "i For all she has to say to me, I 
should think there was no necessity for me to 
hurry," — alluding to the rather silly talk of the 
Empress. This remark, on being repeated, 
made Mme. de Metternich unpopular for some 
time. At the Tuileries her malicious spirit 
gave itself full play, and the victims of her ill- 
natured remarks were numerous. 

She took no more notice of them than she 
did of the complaints made by the public in the 
press, in the counsels of the Emperor even, of 
her independence, her peculiarities, and her 
audacity of speech and of gesture. 

She treated these tales with scorn, and in 



196 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

order the better to show her defiance of public 
opinion, one evening in a charade she took the 
part of a coachman, costume and all. There 
were some women who, having the beauty which 
she lacked, in order to keep up with the fashion 
she set, were most immodestly dressed. 

These incongruities, these manifestations of 
the decadence of society, pleased the Empress 
Eugenie, who encouraged and authorised them 
with the thoughtlessness of a pretty woman 
intoxicated by an unexpected happiness, by an 
unlooked for kingdom. 

Mme. de Metternich — the fact is admitted — 
took advantage of the intimacy which her origi- 
nality, perhaps natural, perhaps studied and 
calculated, gave birth to between herself and 
the Empress, to become a skilful collaborator 
with her husband in his political schemes. 

By means of this friendship she evidently 
drew valuable confidences from the Empress, 
who considered her a devoted friend, and thus 
we may explain why the Emperor and his min- 
isters were so often defeated by foreign diplo- 
mats. As I have already stated, the Emperor 
often expressed his dissatisfaction and his fears 
to the Empress on her intimacy with those 
foreigners whom she took into her confidence. 
But more taken up with her own pleasure than 



THE EMPRESS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 19/ 

with the interests of the country, the Empress 
at no time took any notice of the criticisms 
made on her conduct. She pursued her course 
in the midst of the adulation which her beauty 
brought her, as others have done in their folly. 

What could the Emperor avail against such 
obstinacy, against such lack of foresight, against 
such indifference } 

An open rupture alone could have delivered 
him from his sad plight, and at the same time 
have saved the country from the peril which 
constantly menaced it. But could he, should 
he, have sought this rupture "^ And did he ever 
even think of provoking it } 

Mme. la Comtesse de Castiglione, the second 
in importance of all the women who surrounded 
the Empress, and who interested her deeply, 
had, even more than Mme. de Metternich, the 
reputation of being a politician, and yet was 
not to the same extent the agent of a foreign 
government. The Comtesse de Castiglione was, 
before everything else, a woman of intrigues ; 
she made immodesty the fashion, and if on some 
occasions her beauty became the auxiliary of the 
Turin Cabinet, we should exaggerate, were we to 
attach an importance which it never had, which 
it never could have had, to the role which she 
played. 



198 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

One evening she appeared at the Tuileries, 
and as she had great audacity and great beauty, 
she had also Imperial love affairs. Napoleon 
III., in his intimacy, called her "la Mina;" and 
I think she cared more for this pet name than 
she did for the glory of being a diplomat in 
skirts. 

The foreign policy under the Empire was led 
by MM. de Metternich and Nigra; the former 
at one time having been desperately in love with 
the Empress, and having yielded more to the 
prayers of her he loved or had loved, after 
Sadowa in the Venetian question, than to the 
demands of his patriotism ; the second feign- 
ing a passion for his sovereign, so that he might 
make the better use of her indiscretions. 

Exoticism felt its end to be near, the public 
were weary of its irksome authority, when, in 
1867, certain kings came to Paris, and gave it 
new life. 

After the Exposition, these kings — as in the 
song of the carnival — having left us, exoticism 
resumed at the Tuileries its power and its folly. 

And when, in 1869, alarming symptoms man- 
ifested themselves in the interior policy of the 
country, as well as in its foreign policy, it was 
not in the least disturbed by it. 

Everything of importance seemed to be for- 



THE EMPRESS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 1 99 

gotten at court during this brief period of 
folly ; while the Emperor looked on with his 
sad, dreamy eyes, powerless to inspire wisdom 
in those who surrounded him. It seemed as if 
the Empress and Mme. de Metternich and all 
the women gave full play to every infatuation, 
to every pleasure ; they became bolder, more 
indecent, and in the tableaux vivants the stable 
and the drinking-saloon took the lead ; Rome in 
its decline was surpassed in its sensuality and 
self-indulgence. A check to this state of things 
became necessary and inevitable ; and this check 
was given by the ominous sound of the cannon 
of 1870. 



VIII. 

BEFORE THE WAR OF 1 8/0. 

In spite of the success of the plebiscitum in 
1870, and of the sudden liberahsm of the Impe- 
rial government, it was easy for sensible people 
and close observers to see that serious events, 
either menacing or auspicious, — it was impossi- 
ble to tell which, — were brewing. Symptoms 
of reconstruction, of revolution, or of war were 
disturbing the people, and seemed to cause 
throughout the country a restlessness, an anx- 
iety, which was mysterious and inexplicable, but 
the causes of which were destined soon to be 
known. The Emperor himself, who, however, 
had given himself in good faith and loyalty to 
the political reform which had characterised his 
entire reign, with intervals of failure, perhaps, 
but not entirely without glory, — the Emperor 
himself, it must be stated emphatically, felt his 
intellect, his foresight, and his judgment over- 
come in the presence of this sudden uncertainty, 
by an uneasiness which, under the influence of 
that apprehension from which all suffered, he 

could not have defined. 

200 



BEFORE THE IV AR OF 1870. 201 

(^ The court alone, that is to say, the foolish 
men and women who frequented the Tuileries, 
and also the Empress, ignored or pretended to 
ignore these foreboding signs, and gave them- 
selves up to their customary pleasures of love 
and of chance in a life made up of instability 
and of thoughtlessness, with no concern for the 
morrow. 

The court in this year 1870 had gone quite 
early to Saint-Cloud, the Emperor and Empress 
having made known their intention to spend 
in that charming place the months of June 
and July, and having decided not to pay their 
customary visit to Fontainebleau during this 
season. 

The Emperor, indeed, very much fatigued and 
ill, had but little energy ; and the condition of 
his health, which was carefully concealed from 
the public, required that he should be kept quiet 
and have a good rest. 

However, the court at Saint-Cloud, with its 
traditional gaiety, with its amusements, could 
not be reconciled to the restraint and reserve 
which the illness of the Emperor imposed upon 
it, and the life of the cocodettes who surrounded 
the Empress was not materially affected by it. 

The Empress had with her on this occasion, 
her nieces, the daughters of the Duchess d'Albe, 



202 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

and she on her part made every effort to furnish 
them with amusement. 

The young people who hovered about Saint- 
Cloud in this year of 1870, and who made it gay 
with their presence, were numerous and select. 

The surprise and terror of this society, indif- 
ferent and strangers to the affairs as to the in- 
terests of the country, could not be described, 
when suddenly, like a flash of lightning in the 
night, first the Hohenzollern incident, then the 
declaration of war, swept over France and set it 
on fire. 

Then, in this brilliant court, forgetful of every- 
thing which did not directly affect it, there was 
— like a bewilderment soon followed by a con- 
ventional enthusiasm — an excitement all the 
more thoughtless because those who expressed 
it believed they were sheltered from danger by 
a future which appeared to them unassailable 
and assured. 

All, however, did not take this inconsistent 
attitude. The Empress, and with her a set of 
the court people who were obedient to her in 
word and deed, from the first day of the Hohen- 
zollern incident adopted a position from which 
they did not depart, and declared themselves 
from the first resolutely in favour of war. 

It was hoped that among those resolutely de- 



BEFORE THE IV A R OF 1870. 203 

termined on a rupture between France and 
Germany, would be found(the Due de Gramont, 
who at that time was minister of foreign affairs/ 
and upon whom pubHc hatred has since vented 
itself ; upon whom, also, the official world, with 
its peculiar hypocrisy and egotism, has tried to 
throw all the blame. 

. The Due de^ Gramont, like Napoleon III. — 
the time has come to say this — was opposed to 
all war, and he spent himself in vain, during the 
few days which preceded the irremediable and 
fatal step, endeavouring to renew amicable rela- 
tions between the cabinets of Berlin and Paris. 

But he alone, or almost alone, held this opin- 
ion ; for the will and authority of the Emperor 
were not recognised since the parliament had 
made him a constitutional monarch, and he was 
obliged to yield to the exigency of his colleagues, 
who, strongly approved by the Empress, did 
not conceal their impatient and belligerent de- 
sires. 

(^ M. le Due de Gramont, it may be said, under 
these circumstances should have sent in his re- 
signation. He did offer it in full council, in 
the presence of the Emperor, with an impatient 
and indignant gesture, renouncing with despair 
all hope of making these men, who only listened 
to the promptings of ambition or vanity, under- 



204 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

Stand all the consequences of a war between 
France and, not only Prussia, but all Germany. 
He threw on the table his portfolio and directed 
his steps towards the door. The Emperor 
deeply moved, went towards him and detained 
him. 

" No, no ! remain, my dear Due, ' he said ; 
"remain, I pray you, and do not nial^e a minis- 
terial crisis for me at this time ! " 

And as the Due resisted, seeking to escape 
from the insistence of the sovereign. Napoleon 
seized his hands, and, I am told, with a sob in 
his voice, entreated him, — 

" Gramont, my friend, I implore you, do not 
leave me. I ask this of you as a personal 
favor." 

M. de Gramont was perplexed, disarmed, 
overcome by a reverential pity for the Emperor, 
who, now broken in health, but yesterday was 
well and strong. With a vague gesture, in an- 
swer to the royal supplication, he went back to 
his place, and resumed his functions. 
( From this time he accepted, loyally, chival- 
rously, the consequences of his submission, and 
it was he, who, as minister of foreign affairs, 
brought to the parliament the fatal declaration, i 

The Empress Eugenie has been, and still is, 
publicly accused of having desired, as I have 



BEFORE THE IV A R OF i8yo. 205 

said before, this war of 1870, which was so fatal 

to her capital. She did desire it. 

( Innumerable stories have been published on 

this subject, none of which can be proved. 

What shall we believe .'' 

^^ It is a historical fact long since admitted that 

the Emperor was averse to any declaration of 

war. 

Sometime before the fatal resolution which 
brought his reign to an end, he had known of 
documents which left no doubt as to the strength 
of Prussia, of its sentiments towards us, and in- 
formation on this subject was sent to him every 
day from his foreign agents. , 

One of these agents had even sent to a lady 
of his acquaintance a note which I reproduce 
here word for word, and which strengthened 
the Emperor in his resolution. 

Karlsbad, June 26. 

I have just returned from dining with the King of 
Prussia, with Bismarck, Manteuffel, etc. Tliese people 
belong to the reactionists, and such examples are dan- 
gerous. Manteuffel talks of the "Coalition of Kings" 
a,gainst the entire democratic rabble of the chamber, and 
wants to return to the paternal absolutism ! I dared to 
speak to him of the practical question of money, and re- 
ceived the following incredible answer : — 

" The best wars are fought without money ! Only let 
us begin, and in two months we will look for money in 
Paris ! " 



206 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

I scrutinised him closely to see if he had been drink- 
ing, and he continued : — 

"We stand about where we did in 1851 at Olmiitz ; 
but you fellows have no Schwarzenberg to-day ! " What 
do you think of that? These people ought to be locked 
up. 

Does not this letter — unsigned, but authentic 
— afford a curious insight, and does it not say 
all that could be said of the men who surrounded 
old William ? Does it not also represent Gen- 
eral Manteuffel in an entirely different light 
from that in which he had hitherto been repre- 
sented ? 

QThe Empress could not remain ignorant of 
the views of Napoleon III. ; and we are some- 
'^ what justified in asking how, on such a solemn 
occasion, her opinion prevailed against that of 
her husband. Up to the last moment the Em- 
peror did not conceal his uneasiness. Even at 
Saint-Cloud, at the time of his departure for the 
army, answering those who enthusiastically ex- 
claimed, " In eight days we shall be in Berlin ! " 
he had muttered, " Do not say that ; the cam- 
paign will be a long one, even if we are victo- 
rious.'! 

In the presence of such statements, it might 
be presumed that there was a disagreement be- 
tween the Emperor and Empress. However, 
men of undoubted veracity, of unlimited devo- 



BEFORE THE IV AR OF i8jo. 20/ 

tion to everything connected with the Imperial 
family, insist that such was not the case ; and, 
as I wish to be merely an impartial narrator, I 
cannot pass in silence the account of the last 
scene before the signature of the declaration of 
war. This account is given by one of the most 
prominent characters of the Second Empire, 
and, if I did not know this man to be incapable 
of falsehood, I would hesitate to tell it. 

The Emperor, then, did not wish to go to 
war ; and when, in the council of his ministers, 
— the crisis having reached its height, — the 
decree relative to hostilities was submitted to 
him for signature, to be followed by the fore- 
seen vote of chambers, he refused to put his 
name to the terrible paper. As they insisted, 
he became angry, he — the gentle, obstinate one, 
as his mother called him — became violent, and 
seizing the decree, tore it in pieces, and scat- 
tered the fragments on the floor. 

Then, exhausted, worn out as much by the 
importunity of those who pursued him as by the 
physical sufferings which he had borne for some 
time, he withdrew to his bedchamber. 

The Empress, on hearing of the scene which 
had just taken place, and of the determination 
of the Emperor, was much annoyed. She was 
most indignant. She now became angry, and 



208 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

having compelled the ministers to restore the 
manuscript of the decree, she took possession 
of the new document, and went with it to 
the Emperor, who signed it, as it were in a 
dream. 

Such is the anecdote. It is of serious im- 
port ; and, I repeat, if I had not heard it told by 
trustworthy lips, I would consider it as a pure 
invention. 

It seems to be admitted that it was the for- 
mal desire of the Empress that the French gov- 
ernment should show to Prussia an unusual 
rigidity, in consideration of the withdrawal of 
its claims, and that they exacted from the Prus- 
sian cabinet what was then called a " guar- 
anty." 

The Empress, it is said, was controlled on this 
occasion by a deep sentiment. As a Spaniard, 
she had been much distressed at the thought 
that a stranger might rule over her native land ; 
and when the Emperor, at Saint-Cloud, after the 
temporary abatement of the conflict, arrived, re- 
joiced to have at last put an end to the general 
anxiety, she received him very coldly. The 
courtiers sympathised with her, and a council of 
ministers was decided upon, and the war, post- 
poned for a time, became inevitable. 

Yes, the Emperor was overjoyed when, for a 



BEFORE THE IVAR OF 1870. 209 

moment, he thought that the amicable relations 
between France and Prussia had been renewed. 
But, alas! he had not been master since 1867 ; 
and the Empress, whom a crowd of intriguing 
and interested acquamtances sustained in the 
fixed idea of governing and mingling her au- 
thority with that of the politicians and col- 
leagues of her husband, imposed on all her will, 
her wishes, and her inconsequence. 

In 1870 the Empress, impelled by no one 
knows what circle of ambitious and insignificant 
persons, anxious to advance themselves, under 
cover of the public excitement, entrenched her- 
self behind a systematic obstinacy ; repulsing 
every effort at conciliation, and placing the Em- 
peror in a position where it was impossible for 
him to disapprove of her actions without creat- 
ing a scandal. She resolutely took her place 
among the counsellors as the very soul of the 
approaching campaign. 

The Empress answered all remonstrance with 
the same resolute determination. Her argu- 
ments in favour of immediate action were not 
limited, moreover, to the sentimental expression 
of her caprices or of her political egotism. She 
had really been convinced by familiar conversa- 
tions and by a demonstrative homage, that MM. 
de Metternich and Nigra would prefer the cause 



2IO THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

of France to their respective governments, and 
she counted on doubtful alliances. 

There was no ostensible reason indeed, why 
Austria should abandon her peace — partially 
regained since Sadowa — in order to defend a 
nation that had stood by and allowed her to be 
crushed. Metternich, who was interviewed on 
the subject, gave the following answer, which 
since then has left no doubt regarding the sup- 
port of Austria. 

" It is not possible for us to take sides with 
you in the impending struggle ; for we fore- 
see the sad certainty of your defeat. You 
do not know your enemy ; he is stronger than 
you, and I would not dare to affirm that 
he could not conquer the combined armies 
of the Emperor Napoleon and of my august 
master." 

As to Italy and Victor Emmanuel, who also 
loved the Emperor sincerely, a national interest, 
for which we cannot censure them too severely, 
would not allow them to come to our aid. They 
hoped, whether France was victorious or not, to 
take possession of Rome under cover of the dis- 
organisation which would follow ; and the long- 
ing to escape from our guardianship of the 
Pontifical States took the precedence of all 
generosity and of all gratitude in the heart of 



BEFORE THE IV A R OF 1870. 211 

the King and in the mind of the people. It 
was thus that war with Prussia was declared ; 
it was under such circumstances as these that 
the Empress did not hesitate to risk, at the 
cannon's mouth, the future of France and 
of the Napoleonic dynasty. An ironic fate 
seemed to overrule and combine all things 
for the overthrow of Napoleon III. and the 
nation. ) 

(^ While violent scenes were taking place at the 
ministerial council between M. de Gramont and 
his colleagues, other scenes, no less violent, were 
occurring between the Emperor and his wife ; 
and amongst the intimate friends of the court 
strange events were happening, which betray 
the disorganisation existing in the official world 
and in the Imperial chambers, during the year 
1870. Did not a general, an aide-de-camp of 
Napoleon III., whose name I may not men- 
tion, dare one day at Saint-Cloud, when all pre- 
text for hostility seemed to have been waived, to 
rise up against what he called the public laxity, 
and unbuckling his sword, throw it across a 
billiard table, exclaiming that, if they did not go 
to war with Prussia, he would break his sword } 
(The Empress herself, at Saint-Cloud, on the 
very day that her husband left for the army, 
flew into a passion while breakfasting, at a 



212 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

dubious remark of the Emperor concerning the 
issue at hand, and at his attitude, which was full 
of sadness. 

The Empress, rebuking her husband, struck 
the table suddenly, exclaiming that " no one 
understood her, and that he wished to bring her 
ill luck." 

Those who were present at this breakfast will 
remember the incident. 

The Emperor took his departure. It would 
seem that the Empress was impatient, if not to 
be alone (the hypothesis would not be admis- 
sible), at least to possess the power which would 
be hers in the absence of the sovereign, and 
which she had long coveted. Up to the very 
last moment of her capricious sway she asserted 
this desire ; and when the Emperor — as I will 
show in the next chapter of this work — wished 
to enter Paris with his son after our first repulse, 
she formally opposed his return. And yet — 
who knows .'' — perhaps the safety of the dy- 
nasty, as well as the safety of the entire country, 
may have depended upon the Emperor's pres- 
ence at the Tuileries. 

Instead of creeping along — by the order of 
his wife — humiliated, with no power to com- 
mand, he might have re-established order at the 
capital, even with his demoralised and van- 



BEFORE THE IV A R OF i8jo. 21^ 

quished army. He might have demanded an 
honourable treaty of peace ; and, doubtless, at 
this juncture Germany might not have asked 
of this man, unfortunate but still free, an indem- 
nity of five billions and the sacrifice of two 
pr6vinces. 



IX. 

AFTER SEDAN. 

Whether or not the Empress had desired 
war, and had instigated it, it is certain the war 
affected her, as it did the country of which she 
was queen, and as it did those who marched 
enthusiastic towards the frontiers, alas ! only 
towards chimerical triumphs. 
( Her attitude on the Fourth of September is 
well known. Almost abandoned by her retinue 
and friends, she left the Tuileries in a plain car- 
riageT^) not being able to overtake the carriage 
which her former friends and adorers, MM. de 
Metternich and Nigra, had put at her disposal. 

tTh.Q wife of an illustrious soldier, Mme, la 
Marechale Canrobert, had also offered the Em- 
press the use of her conveyance, and had begged 
her to accept it. But the Empress answered all 
these entreaties in monosyllables, muttering in 
a vague, unconscious manner these words, which 
perhaps a modern Shakespeare could alone in- 
terpret, — 

" A hollow dream ! . . . a hollow dream ! " 

214 



AFTER SEDAN. 215 

It was almost tragic. To what dream did she 
refer ? To her own, which had lasted for eigh- 
teen years ? Or to that of the few friends who 
still surrounded her, and who were partakers of 
her own sad vision ? 

It has also been said that the Empress became 
frightened on the Fourth of September. This 
is a mistake. The Empress was not of a timid 
nature ; like the women of her country, solemn 
and perilous circumstances only seemed to rouse 
in her a certain energy and madness which de- 
prived her of all sense of danger, of all weakness. 
^ She might have used, in her flight, one of the 
carriages offered her. But she preferred to go 
away incognito in order, so she said, not to 
excite scandal, and that she might not be ac- 
cused of placing her own self-interest before the 
interests of the country at a moment when dis- 
integration threatened France. This was surely 
a noble sentiment in her. I do not think that 
this critical moment of her life has ever been 
viewed in this light. 

Those who have systematically depreciated 
her have attempted to establish an unfavourable 
comparison between her flight and the public 
departure of her cousin, the Princess Clotilde. 
They have doubtless forgotten that Madame 
la Princess Clotilde, daughter of the King of 



2l6 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

Italy, could dare to do what would have been 
an impossibility for the Empress. Thus are 
traditions born ; thus, let us hope, do they die. 

Thanks to the assistance of Dr. Evans, the 
Empress Eugenie succeeded in reaching Eng- 
land, where she passed several days without 
hearing from the Emperor — Napoleon also re- 
maining in ignorance of his wife's condition for 
some time after the Battle of Sedan. It was 
not until he reached Belgium that the latter, in 
fact, learned of the departure and safety of his 
wife, and so was able to inform her of his last 
sad journey. 

The last moments which the Emperor spent 
in France are well known. The hours of agony 
which he endured after he left France, a pris- 
oner on his way through Belgium to Germany, 
are less familiar. Let me recall them here. 

A few months ago, being in Belgium, I was 
dining with General Sterckx, the head of the 
war department, and, very naturally, he brought 
to recollection a few of the events of that terri- 
ble year. 

As the General was saying that, in 1870, 
being only a captain then, he, with General 
Chazal, formed part of the escort which accom- 
panied Napoleon III. on his way to Wilhelms- 
hohe, I begged him to tell me the incidents 



AFTER SEDAN. 21/ 

of that journey, and he related to me the fol- 
lowing facts : — 

The journey from Sedan was a fearful ordeal 
for the Emperor. He could scarcely keep on his 
horse, he was suffering such pain. He suc- 
ceeded in doing so, however, by leaning with 
both hands on the pommel of the saddle, never 
allowing a single complaint to escape from him. 

When, surrounded by a detachment of Uhlans, 
he arrived on the frontier, the Belgians replaced 
the Germans, and took him in charge. Thus he 
was led to Bouillon, where he was at last allowed 
to rest while waiting to be conducted to the resi- 
dence which had been assigned to him. 

A strange coincidence ! The room given to 
the Emperor, a common room in a provincial 
hotel, containing two beds with white curtains, 
a chandelier, a few chairs, and a worn-out carpet, 
was ornamented by three lithographs, represent- 
ing Mars cursing Destiny, Apollo playing his 
lyre, and Vulcan being hurled from heaven. 

The Emperor sat down in an arm-chair, near 
a window, and at intervals pushed aside the 
curtain, let it fall again, and then remained 
motionless. 

It was here that he learned of the death of 
General Margueritte. On hearing the announce- 
ment he shuddered, and muttering words expres- 



2l8 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

sive of his sympathy with his late brother-in-arms, 
relapsed into a silence which no one dared break. 

Time was passing, however, and the moment 
approached when the sovereign had to be con- 
veyed to the nearest railroad station in order to 
go farther into exile. But a complication arose. 
The people, who had quickly learned of the 
presence of Napoleon at the hotel, had crowded 
about the house, and were gesticulating in a 
hostile manner. General Chazal and his aide- 
de-camp, Captain Sterckx, who arrived at this 
moment, feared lest the mob should insult the 
fallen Emperor, and entered the hotel, after hav- 
ing seen that the carriages for Napoleon and his 
suite were at the door. 

Several officers were with the Emperor, 
amongst them Generals Pajol, Waubert de Gen- 
lis, de la Moskowa, Reille, Lieutenant Prince 
Murat, Captain Hepp, Drs. Corvisart and Con- 
neau, M. Pietri, M. Raimbaut ; and mingled 
with these were a few Germans, General Baron 
de Boyen, and the Lieutenant Prince de Lynar, 
the same who had accompanied Napoleon III. 
from Sedan, and turned over the care of their 
prisoner to General Chazal. 

They were to drive from Bouillon to Libra- 
mont, and thence by train to Verviers. 

The departure, contrary to the fears of Gen- 



AFTER SEDAN. 219 

eral Chazal and Captain Sterckx, took place 
without much difficulty. The first stop was made 
at Recogne, where the Emperor was received 
by the Belgian troops, who, on seeing him, pre- 
sented arms, while for miles around the drums 
beat and the trumpets sounded. 

The Emperor reviewed the small army, com- 
plimented its head officers, and, having bowed, 
directed his steps, accompanied by his guard, to 
a small inn, where he breakfasted. 

After breakfast he went out and smoked while 
he walked up and down in front of the inn. 
Then perceiving a battery of artillery, he went 
towards it, and entered into, conversation with 
the commanding officer. 

He examined each gun minutely and with a 
sad curiosity ; for these guns were similar to 
those used by the Prussian army. Turning to 
the staff officers, he pointed to them, sighing, 
" These, sir, are the cannon with which we were 
beaten." 

At Libramont, after the crowd had been dis- 
persed with difficulty, they reached the station ; 
and in spite of the obstruction caused by the 
transfer of the prisoners and wounded soldiers, 
they finally entered the cars. 

An incident occurred, however, before the de- 
parture of the train. 



220 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

A poor, crazy man suddenly rushed through 
the crowd, and ran towards the station. On 
being pushed back he began to cry and to 
shriek, begging to be taken to the Emperor. 
" France, he insisted, was victorious ; the Prince 
Imperial was on the throne, and the nations of 
Europe, united against Germany, were sending 
their soldiers to the rescue of Napoleon ! " He 
was seized by the gendannes, and taken away ; 
but as he disappeared, his voice could still be 
heard in the distance shouting, " Long live the 
Emperor ! " 

At Jemelle, where they halted, the Prince 
Pierre Bonaparte came to pay his respects to 
his cousin, who embraced him warmly. Then 
they passed Marloie and Liege without stop- 
ping, until they reached Verviers, where, it had 
been decided, the Emperor should leave the 
cars and again have some rest. 

The Railroad Hotel had been chosen to re- 
ceive the sovereign and his suite. This hotel 
was only about three hundred feet from the sta- 
tion, but the crowd that had gathered around 
the Imperial train was so thick they almost gave 
up all hope of making way through it. 

When Napoleon III. appeared, the pressure 
threw him forward, and a clamour arose ; the air 
was filled with conflicting cries, amongst which 



AFTER SEDAN. 221 

could be distinguished, " Long live France ! " 
" Long live Prussia ! " " Down with the Em- 
peror ! " ''Long live the Emperor!" "Down 
with the Prussians ! " 

A tumult ensued, and the protectors of the 
Emperor took advantage of it to hastily seek 
shelter for him and themselves in the hotel. 

After dinner, the Emperor having meantime 
received telegraphic intelligence, informing him 
of the events which had occurred in Paris, 
addressed those about him in the following 
words : — 

" Gentlemen, the Republic is proclaimed in 
Paris, and I have a successor — M. de Roche- 
fort. As to the Empress and the Prince Im- 
perial, rest assured they are far from all danger. 
The Empress is in England, and my son, as 
well as myself, is your guest. He is with M. 
le Comte de Baiilet, governor of Namur." 

Then, having retired to his room, he sat up 
most of the night dictating notes on the Battle 
of Sedan. 

The departure for Cassel, which was the last, 
was fixed for the next day at noon. This 
day seemed to threaten serious difficulties. 
Certain it is that early in the morning a police 
officer came to receive his orders from General 
Chazal, and did not conceal from him that hos- 



222 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

tile manifestations were expected, and that the 
working-men of V^rviers had determined en 
7nasse to witness the departure of Napoleon. 
There had been some talk of violence in the 
taverns, and several fanatics had said that they 
would shoot the Emperor. 

Troops were considered necessary, and were 
stationed along the road leading to the station, 
the entrance to the hotel having been protected. 

Out of consideration for the Emperor they 
had thoughtfully concealed from him the atti- 
tude of the population of Verviers, and the 
fears which it had awakened ; but when the 
time came to start, it was impossible to keep 
him any longer in ignorance. 

The crowd, in fact in the squares and in 
the streets, was immense, and they surrounded 
the hotel like a living belt of men and women, 
incapable of restraint. 

Continuous cries, apostrophes, and insults 
burst forth from the crowd, and echoed against 
the fagade of the hotel, growing more vio- 
lent every minute. General Chazal had ordered 
the station-agent to make a private opening in 
the wall of the station, so that the Emperor 
could escape to the refuge of his car without 
hindrance. Having decided that he would ad- 
dress the people while the unfortunate sovereign 



AFTER SEDAN. 223 

was entering the station, all that remained was 
to carry out his plan. Outside, the crowd grew 
bigger and more menacing every moment, and 
it became necessary to act promptly. 

General Chazal hesitated no longer. Followed 
by Captain Sterckx, he appeared at the door of 
the hotel, and, looking fixedly at the multitude, 
made a sign indicating that he wished to speak. 
There was a sudden silence. 

"Gentlemen!" he exclaimed, "the Emperor 
of the French is to appear before you. He is 
going to Germany as a prisoner of war. But 
at this moment he is our guest ; I beg you, 
in the name of Belgian hospitality, in the name 
of the hospitality of your city, to treat him with 
the respect and consideration due to his great 
misfortune. Gentlemen, I know you ; and I 
know you will not fail of your duty under such 
trying circumstances." 

Instantly the excitement veered about. To 
the credit of this crowd, of all crowds, these 
words were scarcely spoken when the exclama- 
tions but now insulting to the unfortunate 
man, were turned into plaudits of hurrahs and 
acclamations. 

" Long live General Chazal ! " shouted the 
people. 

The Emperor came forward, leaning on the 



224 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

arm of the old soldier, descended with him 
the steps of the hotel, followed by the Prussian 
General de Boyen, who gave his arm to Captain 
Sterckx. The crowd became suddenly calm and 
respectful ; and, profoundly impressed by the 
Imperial presence, uncovered their heads, and 
in absolute silence gazed upon the Emperor as 
he went by — the vanquished Emperor of to- 
day, who but yesterday walked in a blaze of 
light. 

When the train moved off, the people stood 
still in a contemplative attitude, grouped around 
the station. The Emperor appeared at the door 
of the car. Then the crowd, as one man, from 
an instinctive and spontaneous emotion of chiv- 
alry, rent the air with a vibrating and enthusi- 
astic shout : — 

" Long live the Emperor ! " 

And in the presence of those uncovered 
heads, uplifted in supreme homage — the hom- 
age paid to those about to die — Napoleon III. 
bowed his head in a last greeting. 



X. 



AFTER THE FOURTH OF SEPTEMBER. 

Some time previous to these events, when the 
Empire still flourished, an eccentric Englishman 
— tradition says all Englishmen are eccentric — 
had put in order a house which he owned at 
Camden Place, Chiselhurst, saying : — 

" I am convinced that the Emperor Napoleon 
III., in spite of all appearances to the contrary, 
will be dethroned some day or will grow tired 
of reigning over France. Then he will come to 
England, and will live here." 

Events proved that Mr. Strode — the name 
of this Englishman — was a prophet in his own 
country, thus giving the lie to the proverb. 

The Emperor Napoleon III. was preceded, as 
is well known, at Camden Place, by the Empress 
and the Prince Imperial. It was in this house 
that, after the Fourth of September, the Bour- 
baki incident was unfolded. From this house 
the Empress Eugenie wrote to those who had 
not forgotten her the few letters produced in 
this chapter. This correspondence will provide 

225 



226 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

better material than mere anecdotes for future 
historians when they turn to her attitude in 
exile. They make clear and convincing her 
unceasing interest in the events which were 
disturbing France, and impart fresh significance 
to the various and unreliable reports that have 
appeared in newspapers or in books of little 
authority. 

Of the Bourbaki incident — of the General 
leaving Metz, and going unexpectedly to see the 
Empress, — I will say nothing, as it has been 
sufficiently narrated and commented on already. 
( Before the Fourth of September, after Reis- 
choffen, the Emperor had made known to the 
Empress his desire to return to Paris. But she 
energetically opposed this plan, and in answer- 
ing her husband had said : — 

" Come back victorious, or do not come at all. 
All or nothing ! " 

A short time after Sedan, while Napoleon was 
still in exile, the Prussian ambassador in Lon- 
don, M. le Comte Bernsdorff, after a consultation 
with M. de Persigny, urged the Empress to sign, 
as Regent, a Treaty of Peace, in consideration 
of the ceding of Strasbourg and its suburbs, and 
forty million pounds. The Empress took refuge 
behind her pride, and refused the offer of the 
diplomat. She would not, by her intervention, 



AFTER THE FOURTH OF SEPTEMBER. 22/ 

make trouble for the country which had dis- 
owned her, or be an obstacle in the way of the 
government which, having succeeded hers, had 
undertaken to defend its native land. It is said 
that the government for National Defence, learn- 
ing the attitude of the Empress Eugenie, nego- 
tiated with her and tendered her their profound 
thanks. 

I cannot vouch for the truth of this state- 
ment, but here is a letter from the sovereign 
which would seem to deny it. 

Camden Place, Chiselhurst, Noveinber 20, 1870. 
The same reasons which have inspired in me a great 
reserve still exist. But I deny with indignation that I 
have had any relation with the Cabinet of Tours. In 
answer to a letter of a diplomat who is a friend of mine, 
and who had entreated me to prevent the capitulation of 
Metz until the end of the armistice, if it were in my power, 
I wrote that the capitulation being merely a question of a 
few hours, provisions being needed, they should, if they 

would save it, hurry on the armistice. 

f 

In the same letter, further on, the Empress 
expresses herself very energetically on the sub- 
ject of General Trochu ;} and coming to the 
famous question of his departure, she is care- 
ful to state the exact position which she took 
at that time. The first sentence doubtless 
alludes to some private remark, the subject of 
which I am ignorant of : — 



228 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

' Those who know me, know well that I would sacri- 
fice my interests to the preservation of the army, but that 
1 would never consider it creditable to sacrifice a friend. 
As to the affair of the 4th, I would simply say that Gen- 
eral Trochu deserted me, if he did not do worse. He 
never appeared at the Tuileries after the invasion of the 
chamber, nor did the ministers, with the exception of 
three, who insisted on my departure ; and I did not wish 
to leave until the Tuileries were invaded. Light will 
break on this as on other things. Try to rectify these 
facts. But I think that General Changarnier has already 
learned all this from General Boyer, who has been 
well informed in regard to everything that has taken 
place here. 

Then, coming back to these events, she 
adds : — 

The news from France grieves me. This madman 
Gambetta appears ambitious to replace the organisation, 
of which we are so much in need, by tumult and disorder ; 
the success of the army of the Loire has given us fresh 
courage ; but I dread to see it undertake a march which 
may cause its ruin, like that of Sedan. 

May God protect them. It seems to me we are 
approaching the end. 

Here public opinion is too much aroused : they talk 
of war, but they hope for a congress. . . . 

A few days before the 20th of November, the 
date of this letter, the Empress had written an- 
other letter in which her patriotic sentiments 
overflowed ; and I reproduce it here because it 
is much to her credit. 



AFTER THE FOURTH OF SEPTEMBER. 229 

Camden Place, November 9, 1S70. 

Alas ! each day brings some new disappointment, and 
I am almost discouraged when I see no future for our 
poor country. To-day I am told that the negotiations for 
the armistice are broken off; I admit that I regret this 
sincerely, although, for us, the gathering together of an 
assembly can only be the ruin of our hopes, for under ex- 
isting circumstances it would certainly vote for dethrone- 
ment. But my desire to see the country make the peace 
which is so indispensable for it, even for the sake of the 
future, dominates every other feeling with me. I receive 
letters from different parts of the country which tell me 
that confusion and disorder are at their height. I fear 
that the terms for peace will become more and more diffi- 
cult in proportion to their efforts. But what can one do, 
and what can one think, when one sees a system of de- 
ception opposing the country, and trying to delude it and 
to ruin it? I am very sad, and I scarcely have the courage 
to hope. General Changarnier behaved admirably at 
Metz, and there is but one opinion in regard to him. 

If I were at the Tuileries I should not hesitate to 
write and tell him how noble he appears in my eyes. But 
under existing circumstances I should not dare to do so, 
for I am afraid that my conduct would be misinterpreted. 

If you see L , try to make him understand how wise 

it would be not to insist, in Germany, on the ceding of 
territory which would merely engender war after war. 
Moreover, I think they must feel that they have under- 
taken a difficult task ; but conquerors do not know when 
to stop : this is what causes their ruin. 

Is not the end of this letter both affecting 
and charming, and is it not full of the most 
exquisite womanly sentiment .-^ The " If I were 



230 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

at the Tuilerics," and the " I should not dare to 
do it," are they not masterpieces of dehcate 
feehng, and of sad but gentle hesitancy on the 
part of her who wrote them ? 

Surely the public must observe a difference 
between this note and the gossip of the salons 
reported abroad, and certain books, especially 
published with promises of revelations — which 
revelations are really nothing but a compila1;ion 
of the facts given from day to day by the news- 
papers of the time. One of these books has an 
entire chapter devoted to the flight of the Em- 
press on the Fourth of September, The ac- 
count is altogether imaginary. The Empress's 
letters are here to prove it ; besides, a statement 
from M. Magne destroys absolutely the romance 
which is there given in detail. 

Verney Montreux, Pr6s de Vevay, 

Canton de Vaud, October 12, 1870. 

On the 4th of September, after the scene in the cham- 
ber, I hastened to the Tuileries to offer at that supreme 
moment my services to the Empress whom I had left at 
noon. I could not get into the palace. Several of my 
colleagues were also prevented from entering. 

Since that time I have had no news except what I 
have ascertained from the papers. 

This letter corroborates that of the Empress. 
It is narrated in the book in question, that the 



AFTER THE FOURTH OF SEPTEMBER. 23 1 

ministers and the deputies had an audience with 
the Empress after the usurpation of the cham- 
ber, and that she bade them good-bye. 
X But the Empress herself declares that with 
the exception of three, who insisted on her 
departure, none of the ministers presented 
themselves, and M. Magne tells us that the 
deputies were unable to effect an entrance at 
the Tuileries. 

It is thus that romance alters history. 

The veracity of the facts which I offer to the 
public being sufficiently established, I resume 
my narrative. 

The Empress, I have said, gives evidence in 
her exile of high-minded and disinterested senti- 
ments, of sincere grief at our misfortunes, and of 
a patriotism which is incontestable. She does 
not cease to think of the country she has left, 
and it is impossible not to feel a poet's sympathy 
in reading the letters which this dethroned 
queen writes to her friends. 

A poet } Will one arise to sing her glory 
and her misfortunes "^ 

Camden Place, December 10, 1870. 

Le Comte G will give you, in the name of the 

Prince Imperial, a little money which you will use to the 
best advantage for our wounded. I regret sincerely that 
I am not rich enough to help their need. 



232 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

The Empress watched closely the state of 
public opinion, and noted carefully her chances 
of return, as the number of her partisans 
encouraged or warned her. 

" All that you tell me," she writes, " of General Chan- 
garnier" [the general interested her and attracted her 
attention, as we saw in the preceding chapter], " interests 
me deeply ; but I think he is decidedly with the Orlean- 
ists. I regret it, for he would assuredly have a grander 
and more glorious role with us ! . . . See if we must 
give up all hope of having him with us." 

" I think an assembly must necessarily be hostile, be- 
cause I do not believe, at this juncture of things, in the 
liberty of the vote ; and yet there is no government strong 
enough to sign a Treaty of Peace on the conditions which 
Prussia will necessarily impose upon us." 

" I do not believe in the prolongation of the war at 
present. It is probable that a new sortie will be attempted 
unless the acceptance of the armistice brings peace." 

These letters are curious because they indi- 
cate the moral condition of things at Camden 
Place, only a few months after the fall of the 
Empire. Then the days pass. All hope of re- 
turning to France must be given up, and the 
exiles resign themselves to their fate. This 
resignation is not without bitterness ; but new 
events occur — the Commune and its struggles 
— which do not allow the Empress to think of 
herself. 



AFTER THE FOURTH OF SEPTEMBER. 233 

Like all the world, she suffered from that 
enervation which almost accustoms one in time 
to horrible deeds, and she disserts on the events 
that happen, on the responsibilities assumed, 
and on court politics, with a calm temper. 

Chiselhurst, April 21, 1871. 
The news from Paris is very sad. Such is the fruit of 
personal ambition. . . . Victorious or vanquished, the 
government will have the responsibility none the less. 
They have given up Paris to take it again, but at what a 
price ! . . . They left the arms with the national guard 
so as to keep a false popularity ; but how many ruins there 
are to disarm them. . . . And, whatever is the result of 
the struggle, the government had in itself the germ of its 
own death. Moreover^ we are fast wearing out. 

When the Empress learnecl of the destruction 
of the Vendome column, she only wrote two 
lines, but they are very characteristic. 

May ig. 
The overthrow of the Vendome column breaks my 
heart. It is worse than a defeat ; it is a disgrace for us all. 

We ai^e fast wearing out. This phrase is 
like the last words of a dying man, like the van- 
ishing impression of a dream. The Empress 
shuts herself up in her retreat after this, and 
writes little or nothing. However, two years 
pass. A piece of news is spread abroad. It 
is said that the Comte de Chambord is com- 
ing back to France to reign. Then the Em- 



234 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

press, proverbially fond of fun — the Legitimist 
Empress — appears again, and follows almost 
anxiously the success or failure of the future 
King. 

"Many changes have taken place," she says, under 
date of October i8, " and if I may believe the newspapers, . 
the acceptance of Monsieur le Due de Chambord is an 
accomplished fact; everything seems to go as if on 
wheels, and yet I think it is impossible that the country 
can accept, for any length of time, what is done outside 
of it. Monsieur le Comte de Chambord is nothing, if he 
accepts, but the successor of Louis Philippe. One cham- 
ber will call him, another will defeat him, like the king 
Am6d6e. The great principle which he represents, and 
which places him outside of caprice and passion, that 
divine right, so much talked of, amounts to nothing to-day, 
and he will only be the chosen one of the assembly. We 
know where concessions lead. . . . The way is shorter 
when one is prodigal of one's prestige. . . . So that I 
refuse to believe that M. le Comte de Chambord has lost 
his mind." 

^ The last lines of this letter are an allusion to 
the liberal days of the Empire, and a direct re- 
proach to the Emperor. 

The Empress, in fact, as we know, was very 
hostile to the ministry of the Second of January, 
she was very imperious, and it is probable that 
she did not show this page to the Emperor be- 
fore sending off the letter. 

All the strenojth of her anti-liberal views is 



AFTER THE FOURTH OF SEPTEMBER. 235 

soon revealed. And when M. le Comte de 
Chambord declares that he cannot accept the 
tricolour flag and so destroy the hopes of his 
friends, she does not conceal her satisfaction. 

"What do you say of the letter of M. le Comte de 
Chambord? '' she asks from Chiselhurst. " I knew very 
well he would not give up his principles or his flag." 

And she adds : — 

" His letter is very noble." 

At the time these different letters were writ- 
ten, the Empress liked to keep up relations with 
her former faithful friends. She wrote to them 
occasionally, as her disappointment grew less, 
attractive notes relating to men, politics, and 
affairs in general. Speaking of M. Magne, min- 
ister of finance under M. Thiers, she expresses 
herself thus, in a language which seems to indi- 
cate a perfect peace of mind : — 

" I have just read the report of the minister of finance. 
I cannot conceal a feeling of pride in reading this remark- 
able work, for it is a former minister of the Empire 
who deserves the credit of it. It is remarkable for its 
lucidity and simplicity. I am no longer accustomed to 
find my way by myself among figures. M.^Magne has the 
talent of making even the ignorant, like myself, think they 
are financiers." 

This is kind. But since these days when 
the Empress relived with those she loved the 



236 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

far distant years, she has undergone a met- 
amorphosis. A double grief has overwhelmed 
her, and she has broken all her ties with the 
past. 

Visiting Rome shortly before the death of her 
son, she refrained from going to the Quirinal, 
and so influenced her son that he could not re- 
sist her will. This was a mistake. It was also 
a mistake, perhaps, to have alienated her former 
friends. But what difference does it make to 
her to-day } She walks as in a dream, in the 
overwhelming apotheosis of a crumbling dynasty, 
in the supreme dissolution of all that was "■ she," 
in the ecstatic renunciation of all that made her 
happy, in indifference, even to that English hos- 
pitality which twice was fatal to the Napoleons. 



XL 



THE RESTORATION OF THE EMPIRE IN 
I87O-I87I. 

I HAVE just quoted from some letters of the 
Empress Eugenie, dated 1873, three years after 
her dethronement. 

I have shown that the Empress, moved by a 
generous sentiment, forgot for a moment her 
pretensions to the dynasty, her hope of return- 
ing to France, in the absorbing thought of what 
was best for the country. However, this renun- 
ciation was of short duration, and very soon with 
her, as with the Emperor, — a prisoner at Wil- 
helmshohe, — the desire . to see the Tuileries 
again, to return to power, began to germinate. 
Suffering from the terrible shock of tragic 
events, and pursued by the succession of accu- 
mulated disasters, the Empress, overcome by 
anxiety and suspense, succumbed to prostration. 
But as the inevitable sequence of events un- 
folded, and she gradually grew accustomed to the 
new, strange condition of affairs, she regained 
consciousness of herself and her surroundings. 
Like one who has fainted and revives, she soon 

237 



238 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

learned to face things as they were with less- dis- 
may, and, possibly, to link the broken and inglo- 
rious past with the uncertain future. 

It was at this time that the thought of an 
Imperial restoration, in the near future, took pos- 
session of her. The Emperor, in spite of the 
revolution and of the maledictions which his 
name had repeatedly provoked, did not hesitate 
to believe that he could again enter Paris, re- 
establish order, and institute his government 
once more. Consequently, the principal repre- 
sentatives of the Bonapartist party were notified 
to be in readiness to obey their former sover- 
eigns. This project of an Imperial restoration, 
as early as 1870 and 1871, brought about by an 
inexplicable evolution of circumstances, has re- 
mained unknown to this day, not only to the 
public, but to most of those who took part in 
politics before and after the war. I shall now 
publish in detail the facts concerning this move- 
ment. 

When it had been decided, by the Emperor 
and by the Empress, that a restoration of the 
Empire would be attempted, they proceeded at 
once to reorganise the Bonapartist forces, and 
Napoleon III. put himself in communication 
with his former friends, noted for their energy. 

The Emperor summoned to Wilhelmshohe 



THE RESTORATION OF THE EMPIRE. 239 

several of his partisans, to whom he gave full 
directions ; emissaries were sent in almost every 
direction for the purpose of bringing together, 
in direct and uninterrupted play, the different 
centres of action. When everything was ready 
for concerted action, all that remained to be 
done was to choose a place for the headquarters 
of this political campaign, where they would be 
free to act and carry their plans into execution. 

By common consent, the entire French terri- 
tory was ruled out, as offering no safety ; Lon- 
don, considered for a moment, was also given up 
on account of the difficulties to be encountered 
in crossing the channel. One town seemed 
to all the " conspirators " almost miraculously 
satisfactory in all respects. This was Brus- 
sels, which they finally decided on as their 
rendezvous. 

It was then November, 1870, so that it will 
be evident they had lost no time. It would also 
appear, while we do not wish to condemn her 
for it, that the Empress had been inconsistent, 
though sincere, when she had written that she 
was willing to sacrifice her claim to the throne 
for the good of the country. She said this in 
good faith, I am sure ; and I think that, in her 
fits of despondency, she often foughjt against 
any thought of returning to France. But, true 



240 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

to her impulsive nature, wrought upon by the 
excitement of the possibility of a return, her 
sympathy went out to the Emperor, and encour- 
aged him in the undertaking which was fated to 
be almost still-born. 

The aspect of Brussels in 1870, after the 
Fourth of September, was both interesting and 
melancholy. It was like a camp, where a crowd 
from every quarter gathered, especially from 
France. Numbers of the former friends of the 
Empire had come together, and one could have 
said that the Imperial court presided here. 

The Hotel of Flanders, especially, sheltered 
many important personages of the Bonapartist 
party, and it was here that the salon was opened 
where the counsellors of the Emperor were to 
assemble, where the plan of the return to the 
Tuileries was to be developed. 

Marechal MacMahon, his mother, the Du- 
chesse de Castries, his sister, the Comtesse de 
Beaumont, M. Teschard, the French minister 
in Brussels accredited by the government of 
National Defence, Marechal Canrobert, Gen- 
eral Changarnier, the Due d'Albuferra, General 
de Montebello, General Fleury, M. Levert, and 
others too numerous to mention, met in the 
salon already referred to, over whom one of the 
most illustrious worldly and political women 



THE RESTORATION OF THE EMPIRE. 241 

of the Second Empire presided, — the.Comtesse 
X . 

I have just mentioned M. Teschard, and have 
said he was a frequenter of the salon of the 
Hotel of Flanders. My meaning may be mis- 
understood. M. Teschard, while mingling with 
a society not in sympathy with the government 
which he represented, was not guilty of treason. 
The French Minister was almost buried in that 
cosmopolitan town in 1870, and it was most nat- 
ural that he should seek, as a private citizen, the 
society of his compatriots who happened to be 
there. With a gifted and talented mind, very 
intelligent and sociable, he was agreeable to his 
political enemies, as they were to him — his ene- 
mies being Frenchmen. He was married, and 
his wife was a German, so that he chose, I think, 
after the war, his wife's nationality, family inter- 
ests detaining him in Alsace. 

This intimacy caused him to be reprimanded 
by Gambetta, who asked him one day, " What 
he found to interest him among these charm- 
ers "i " These words in the mouth of the Trib- 
une, — used to characterise the men and women 
of the Empire — are they not symbolical } 

One of these " charmers " had a talk with 
Gambetta, some time after his nomination as 
minister of foreign affairs, and as past events 



242 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

were the subject of conversation, the Tribune 
suddenly opened a drawer, and turning to his 
interlocutor, said, — 

" Do you see this drawer ? It is full of letters, 
dispatches, papers of all kinds relating to poli- 
tics. Well, the more I read and re-read all 
these, I am convinced that much that the . Em- 
peror is condemned for, he was justified in doing. 
When one has only to oppose, when one does 
not have to weigh the tremendous problems of a 
government, when, in short, one is ignorant of 
the ins and outs of things, everything seems so 
easy and is so open to criticism. But I do not 
hesitate to confess to you that I think that man 
is wrong who blames too systematically his 
enemy. Only those who have never had their 
shoulder to the wheel would dare to do it ; I 
have been of those and I regret it." 

In the beginning, during the first hours of 
his captivity, suffering from the prostration 
which follows a great shock, the Emperor 
seemed to lose hold of all that had pertained to 
his position, and to accept his fate with resigna- 
tion. 

Replying to one of his faithful friends, who 
had questioned him regarding his intentions, he 
did not conceal his despondency, and with a 
lamentable laconism, put an end to any desire 
for restoration. 



THE RESTORATION OF THE EMPIRE. 243 

*' I thank you for your letter, which gave me great pleas- 
ure," he says under date of September 28, 1870, from 
Wilhelmshohe ; "the sentiments which you express do 
not surprise me, for I have always been sure of your friend- 
ship. Under existing circumstances, it seems to me there 
is nothing to do but to rectify through the press, as far as 
possible, any erroneous statements, and to influence, as 
far as possible, public opinion. Conti, whom you perhaps 
saw at Brussels (he lives at No. 2 Place du Trone), is 
very useful to me in this way. God grant that the siege 
of Paris will soon be over ; for I fear all kinds of abuses 
on the outskirts." 

On the other hand, all the friends of Napo- 
leon III. were not, at this time, agreed on the 
Imperialist movement, and M. Magne among 
others, on being consulted, did not hesitate to 
dissuade them from the attempt at restoration. 

Here is his letter : — 

Verney Montreux, Pr^s de Vevay, 

Canton de Vaud, Suisse, October 12, 1870. 

I have already written to you ; I fear that my letter has 
not reached you. May this one, which I will register, be 
more fortunate. The mail is so disturbed that correspon- 
dence by balloon would be as regular as that by the rail- 
road. 

I am in Switzerland with my wife, my daughter-in- 
law, and my grandchildren. I came here by accident on 
my way from Aix. I am advised to remain here until after 
the elections. I have been told that my presence, during 
that transaction, might embarrass my friends who have 
decided not to vote for me, which, moreover, I had no 
right to expect they would. 



244 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

The elections having been indefinitely postponed, I 
intend, unless something unexpected prevents me, soon to 
go to Montaigue ; I expect to end my life there as I began 
it, that is to say, in a state of mediocrity, only retaining 
the memory of men and things and the consciousness of 
always having done my duty ; very happy if I find there 
the friends of my youth and a few of those that pros- 
perity brought to me. I would only regret the loss of 
these things. 

One w^ord, now, in regard to politics. 

Many false rumors and erroneous interpretations of 
past events are being spread abroad and profited by. 
We should spend our time trying to rectify them ; on the 
other hand all attempt at construction seems to me foolish 
and dangerous. In the midst of the disasters of war, of 
which all are more or less the victims and which the Em- 
pire is held responsible for, people's minds are excited 
and angry. All appearance of wishing to go back will 
only increase this feeling. If I may judge by the informa- 
tion which has come to me, and which you also must have 
received, this is the state of public opinion. 

Moreover, public attention is almost exclusively bent 
in the direction of National Defence. In taking this name, 
the provisional government has been inspired. It rallied 
an assemblage of all parties, who forgot their origin in 
their common end. God grant, for the good of the coun- 
try, that the same unity may preside at the formation of 
a permanent government. 

' But how dark is the horizon ! How uncertain the 
future ! Without despairing of France, which cannot 
entirely perish, he is very bold who dares to predict or to 
conjecture, or who, as I have just done in my letter, 
makes plans for the present or future. 

M. Magne, it is quite evident, was entirely 



THE RESTORATION OF THE EMPIRE. 245 

opposed to any attempt towards the restoration 
of the Empire, and when, in November, a month 
after writing this letter, he was again consulted, 
he made the same answer. 

ChIlet du Grand Hotel de Vevay, 

A Vevay, November 18, 1870, 

This unfortunate war disturbs everything, ruins 
everything everywhere for the present, and for a long 
future. I am as profoundly sad and discouraged as you 
are. I see nothing for our unfortunate country but an in- 
definite succession of calamities. I understand the indig- 
nation of the public against those whom they accuse of 
bringing about this state of things, only I think they are 
more and more mistaken in regard to the real causes, 
which are innumerable. The division of responsibility, 
when it can be done in cold blood and with perfect free- 
dom, will surprise more than one, I am convinced. While 
waiting, I do not understand the report which I hear, of 
an attempted reactionary plot ; to my mind, as I have 
already told you, this would be folly. No one can tell 
what the future holds for us. But, at this moment, the 
only choice is between a modified republic, or a republic 
a la Robespierre. 

That good results from excess of evil is a maxim which 
has always seemed to me unpatriotic and dangerous. 
Therefore, I learn with great satisfaction the attitude of 
Paris and of Marseilles against the Reds, even though 
the provisional government, notwithstanding its origin, 
should be strengthened for some time by it. 

Only I fear these attempts will be renewed, will ex- 
tend, will weary and frighten the honest people, who will 
end by letting them do as they have done in the past — 
each one shielding himself by his weakness. 

A socialistic club has decided that the street that 



246 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

bears my name shall be named anew, that my property 
shall be confiscated and sold, and that the first comer may 
and even shall be required to shoot me. It is true that the 
mass of the populace are indignant, and protest and prom- 
ise to re-establish immediately my name if it is removed ; 
it is also true that the patriots who made these threats 
have not dared to stir as yet. But they cannot be 
trusted. In any case, this fact concerning one who has 
in the town many in his debt, in every class, and not one 
personal enemy even amongst his opponents, is a very 
significant symptom, and certainly not reassuring. 

We were about to start, in fact, when we learned of 
the catastrophe at Metz, of the furious agitation in the 
towns of the south through which we had to pass, and the 
invitation given to Forcade and others to leave the city 
of Bordeaux, my adjoining town ; I did not expect to be 
better treated, notwithstanding a bona fide passport that 
your friend, M, Groffray, had been kind enough to send 
me by our resident at Berne. 

The surrender of Metz, so deplorable in itself, gave 
rise to a very distressing spectacle, that of the soldiers, 
officers, generals, accusing each other, and uniting in 
denouncing their commander. 

Silence, sometimes so plausible and successful, is not 
always the best way of defending one's self. I am impa- 
tient to see a justification of the Mardschal more peremp- 
tory than that which he gives in his short letter. He is 
not the only one interested. 

Have you read the decrees found at the Tuileries, and 
by means of which Rouher and Lavalette had obtained 
from the Emperor the order for my dismissal as a mem- 
ber of the private council? You know that I had a 
presentiment of it based on my knowledge of their sen- 
timents and of those of the Empress. 



THE RESTORATION OF THE EMPIRE. 247 

Such are these two interesting letters, to 
different people, written by M. Magne on the 
subject under consideration. Notwithstanding 
the advice which they unquestionably give, it is 
from this month of November, 1870, that the 
definite resolve to reinstate Napoleon III. on 
the throne dates, and that the Empress and 
Emperor themselves direct the movement on 
which they have set their hopes. 

One man — General Changarnier — being, 
as I have said, at Brussels, was strongly urged 
by the Imperialists to join their ranks ; the 
Emperor himself, and the Empress and her 
suite, made every effort to persuade him ; and 
the General came very near playing the role of a 
Monk. 

General Changarnier went every day at three 
o'clock to the Hotel de Flandres, and so kept him- 
self in touch with the leaders of the Bonapartist 
movement. His recent interview, in France, 
with the Emperor, had not weakened his mo- 
narchical convictions ; and at that time he held 
ardent legitimist views. According to him, the 
Comte de Chambord alone was capable of re- 
storing calm and prosperity to the country ; and 
deeply convinced that the King would accept 
the tricolour flag, he was devoting himself to his 
cause. 



248 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

However, tormented by the partisans of Impe- 
rialist restoration, by General Fleury among 
others, who came to Brussels to see him, fur- 
nished with private instructions from Napoleon 
III., he soon became imbued with the opinions 
of those with whom he associated ; and after 
having proposed to take the Regency with the 
Prince Imperial, thus excluding the Emperor 
and the Empress, he waited for more formal 
overtures. 

These overtures not being forthcoming, he 
returned to his former convictions, and became 
again a royalist. 

The letter by which Napoleon III. put him- 
self directly in contact at Brussels with Gen- 
eral Changarnier was written on the subject of 
Marechal Bazaine, and at the beginning of that 
conspiracy, which was doomed never to fulfil 
itself. 

The following lines reveal it to us, and at the 
same time show us in what ignorance of events 
the Emperor was kept at this time : — 

WiLHELMSHOHE, November 16, 1870. 

However, at Brussels you must see many people, and 
learn many things of which we are ignorant here. I wish 
from time to time you would let me know your impressions 
of what you hear said, and what you hope or fear for the 
future. 

I am told that you often see our enemies. If this is to 



THE RESTORATION OF THE EMPIRE. 249 

win them over, so much the better. But I fear their bad 
influence. Ah-eady Bourbaki and Marechal Canrobert 
have been circumvented by them. If you see General 
Changarnier, ask him to write a word to the papers in 
favor of Bazaine. I have already advised him to do this, 
but he wrote me that the editor of Z' Independence Beige 
did not publish his letter, and when he asked the reason 
why, he was told that if they published his letter, they 
would accompany it by unkind reflections on Bazaine ; 
so he had to withdraw it. I regret this ; for anything said 
by Changarnier would be much talked of, whereas injuri- 
ous remarks of the editor would have passed unnoticed. 
Try to make him change his mind. 

Several weeks later the Emperor became 
categorical on the subject of General Changar- 
nier ; and as at that time the organisation of the 
Imperialist plot was accomplished, he tried to 
make it favourable to him at any cost. 

W., Decejnber 11. 
This letter will be delivered to you by M. Levert, for- 
merly a prefect of Marseilles, a most devoted and distin- 
guished man. He will talk with you of the measures to 
be adopted in regard to General Changarnier, so as to 
keep him true to our cause. I beg of you to arrange an 
interview for him with the General. 

The General, as I have said, weakened every 
day before these solicitations, and another letter 
issued from the Emperor, demonstrating the 
importance of his allegiance and his interest in 
promoting the success of their proposed plan in 
the eyes of the Bonapartists. 



250 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

W., December 23, 1870. 

I thank 3'ou for the satisfactory relations which you 
maintain with General Changarnier. You must keep his 
goodwill by telling him that when the right moment 
comes I will need his advice. From what I hear, Clare- 
mont has said that Paris cannot hold out more than three 
weeks. What will happen then? 

The position taken by certain French officers in 
Germany is very bad ; but they are influenced by emis- 
saries of many different colours. 

It would seem that for a moment General 
Changarnier was the pivotal point of the Im- 
perialist restoration, the point around which re- 
volved all the arguments, all the charm, all the 
dignitaries, of the party. 

He had been promised the Marechalat, should 
the Empire be re-established ; and for a time it 
was believed that he would resolutely give his 
name and his influence to the service of the 
Imperialist cause. 

But he became obstinate in his idea of the 
Regency and in making it conditional on the 
absence of the Emperor and Empress ; and 
the situation dragged along in this way, with 
useless discussions, up to the time when, the 
preliminaries of peace having been signed, the 
country was called upon to elect deputies for 
the National Assembly, to ratify these prelimi- 
naries and to make them definite. 



THE RESTORATION OF THE EMPIRE. 25 1 

From the first of January, 1871, the Bona- 
partist conspiracy became disintegrated, and 
Napoleon III. himself was overtaken by an 
inertia which undermined his courage and 
energy. 

" Unfortunately you are not better informed at Brussels 
than we are here in regard to future events,-' he writes, 
under date of January 4th. " One scarcely knows what 
to think of the differences of opinion one hears expressed 
in regard to the probable endurance of Paris. Everybody 
wants peace, but no one knows how it can be obtained." 

After the 8th of February, when the repre- 
sentatives of the people turned toward Bor- 
deaux, General Changarnier hastened to rejoin 
several friends in that town. Here he saw M. 
Thiers ; by his own confession he sounded him 
on the subject of restoration — no longer Im- 
perialist, but monarchical — and having been 
assured that the shrewd little man had no desire 
to play the game of princes, he came back to 
Brussels, and entirely severed his connection 
with his former allies. 

From this time the Bonapartist camp was 
completely demoralised. To the natural diffi- 
culties which such an enterprise as the res- 
toration of the Empire presented, was added 
discord and enmities which rendered this at- 
tempt impracticable. 



252 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

A lack of cohesion broke up the different 
groups, and the saloji of the Hotel of Flanders 
was deserted. Some among the Imperialists 
wished for the Empire with the Emperor, that 
is to say, the Empire as it was ; whereas others 
seemed disposed to rally around a Regent, with 
the Prince Imperial. 

Disorder resulted from this condition of 
things, and very soon, the National Assembly 
having become an almost insurmountable ob- 
stacle to the realisation of the projects of the 
Imperial partisans, each one, to use a familiar 
expression, went his way and gave up his 
dream. 

M. Thiers was one of those who knew of these 
facts, and some time after the failure of the Im- 
perialist plot, being in Versailles, as head of the 
executive department, he had a curious conver- 
sation on this subject with one of the faithful 
members of the saioft of the Hotel of Flanders. 
The person I have just alluded to, having called 
on him to ask him to return to the Empress 
some articles belonging to her, M. Thiers ap- 
peared very anxious to comply with the request 
of his former sovereign, and gave orders that 
it be at once carried out. This was the first 
time since the war that the chief executive 
found himself in the presence of an intimate 



THE RESTORATION OF THE EMPIRE. 253 

friend of the Imperial family, and curiosity led 
him to question him. He showed him every 
attention, and tried to ingratiate himself- with 
him, and finally asked the following question, 
which led to a conversation both interesting and 
historical : — 

" What do foreigners say of us ? " 

" Many bad things, M. le President. We are 
not looked upon with favour by foreigners, and 
they are especially afraid of your Republic ! " 

" My Republic, my Republic . . Nevertheless, 
it is the only possible government in France." 

" So you say, M. le President. But how can 
you expect monarchical governments to look with 
indifference on such a government established as 
their neighbour. It is said in Brussels, by those 
surrounding the King, that Republicanism is a 
contagious disease, which should be guarded 
against by imposing a quarantine to protect 
those who have not died from it." 

M. Thiers laughed. 

" The European cabinets are not reasonable," 
he replied ; " are they not aware of the number 
of different parties among us who are strug- 
gling for power .^ And do they think that a 
return to past traditions would serve the best 
interests of France to-day better than a for- 
ward march in the direction of progress "^ No ; 



2 54 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

those people are either ignorant or foolish, and 
we are more experienced and wiser than they. 
Emperors and kings seem to me to have had 
their day with us. A good Republic will take 
their place, and will know better than they how 
to heal the wounds of the nation." 

Then, walking up and down the room, he 
planted himself, with his arms crossed, directly 
in front of his companion. 

" See here, my friend," he exclaimed in his 
shrill voice, "you think exactly as I do. Were 
you not recently one of the heads of the con- 
spiracy which had as its end to restore the Em- 
pire } What has become of that conspiracy .'* 
Where are all your fine plans .'* You were not 
even able to agree among yourselves ; and Gen- 
eral Changarnier, whom you wished to bribe, 
would not even listen to you." 

" Pardon me, M. le President, General Chan- 
garnier was for about two months as much of a 
Bonapartist as I, who will always remain one. 
He was even, for a time. Regent and future 
Marechal of France." 

"Oh!" 

" Such are the facts." 

"Well, that proves nothing. Changarnier is 
a brave soldier, but a regular old woman, with 
narrow views and Imperial methods, who knows 



THE RESTORATION OF THE EMPIRE. 255 

nothing of business. I have been told that he 
has been a legitimist ! And now he has gone 
over to the Orleanists ! " 

"But you yourself, my dear President" — 

" I have already told you that I only want a 
Republic. The Orleanists are no more possible 
in France than the Emperor or the Comte de 
Chambord." 

Then he became thoughtful. 

" Yes, the Orleanists might have had a chance 
to reign. But they have been guilty of so many 
follies, that they are either unpopular, or have 
no prestige. They have caused themselves to 
be elected deputies, they have conjointly with 
the Germans claimed money from France. 
They no longer count." 

M. Thiers, at this point, remained silent for a 
moment. But resuming the conversation, and 
placing his hand on his visitor's shoulder in a 
friendly manner : — 

"I repeat," he rejoined, "that the Republic 
will live a long time in France." "But, since I 
must reveal to you all my mind, I am of opinion 
that, notwithstanding the disasters which it has 
caused, the Empire alone might, in the absence 
of the Republic, be accepted by the country. 
The Bonapartists, in fact, have come to an end ; 
but if, in a distant future, the people return to a 



256 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

dynasty, that dynasty will be theirs. We will 
not see it, but perhaps our grandchildren will ; 
the Napoleons are democrats, and their name 
cannot be forgotten." 

Then, shaking his head, he added : — 

" But no. To-day the people want a Repub- 
lic ; a Republic suits them best. It is popular, 
in spite of the National Assembly ; it becomes 
more popular every day ; and, as it increases in 
strength, the parties will not have power enough, 
even in their coalition, to overthrow or destroy 
it. It is the only form of government that can 
effect the calm so much needed by the country, 
and which alone can inspire the confidence of 
our neighbours ; for it is not belligerent, but 
peaceably inclined. When you go back, you 
can repeat what I have said. I authorise you 
to do so. Say that you have seen me, that I 
have talked with you ; and I will be grateful to 
you for the assistance which you can thus give 
me, in exchange for the small service which I 
shall render to you, or, rather, to the Empress 
whose envoy you are." 

And he added : — 

" If God spares my life, I shall make this Re- 
public much beloved, and I hope by means of it 
to accomplish great things." 

Man proposes, and . . . assemblies dispose ! 



THE RESTORATION OF THE EMPIRE. 257 

The 24th of May saw the fall of M. Thiers, as 
January, 1871, had seen that of the Second Em- 
pire. Historians will tell whether M. Thiers, 
while in power, accomplished any of the great 
things he projected. However this may be, we 
must acknowledge that he had foresight, that he 
had a clear prevision of events that came to 
pass, and, above all, that the Republic, which he 
loved with a selfish and senile love, — as a man 
loves the child of his old age, — has taken pos- 
session of the country ; and, under its rule, 
France, free, prosperous, young, and strong, 
marches towards peace and towards progress. 



XII. 



THE EMPRESS AND THE PRINCE IMPERIAL. ^ 

When peace had been declared with Ger- 
many, and the Commune had been subdued, 
and when the National Assembly, leaving Bor- 
deaux, sat at Versailles, the hope of a return to 
France, even at a distant date, was no longer 
entertained by the Emperor or Empress, and 
their exile from that moment was absolute. 

Napoleon III. now devoted himself entirely 
to the education of his son ; and, as long as 
his father lived, the Prince was happy. But 
this happiness was doomed to be of short dura- 
tion. Shortly after the death of his father, 
dissensions arose between his mother and 
himself. The young man, short of money, 
urged the Empress and M. Rouher to turn over 
to him their accounts as guardians ; but they 
refused to grant his request, and he was com- 
pelled to come to his mother for the satisfaction 
of his wants. 

The Prince had the law on his side, and he 
could have obliged his mother and M. Rouher 

258 



THE EMPRESS AND THE PRINCE IMPERIAL 259 

to submit. But an appeal to law was repugnant 
to him, and so he yielded quietly to this tyranny. 

M. le Comte d'Herisson, in his remarkable 
work on the Prince Imperial, tells us that the 
Empress not only withheld unjustly sums of 
money which belonged to her son, but that 
after her husband's death she destroyed a will 
which, without doubt, gave the Prince an 
independent income. This is a grave accusa- 
tion. But if the attitude of the Empress 
towards her son, in exile, is considered, it 
seems to be justifiable. 

To the everlasting and irritating question of 
money was added incompatibility of character, 
of ideas, and of life ; and very soon between the 
widowed Empress and the orphan Prince there 
was an intermittent succession of disputes, 
worries, and annoyances, which rendered hate- 
ful to the young man the time he spent under 
her roof. 

He only had a little peace and a little free- 
dom when far from his home, at Woolwich, 
where, beloved by all, he loved in turn all those 
who surrounded him. These are cruel things 
to say ; but for the sake of history they must 
no longer be kept secret. Those who loved the 
Prince Imperial, Le Petit Prhice as he was 
always called in France, especially by the peo- 



260 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

pie, will be grateful to me for the courage it 
requires to divulge this, and also to face the 
animosity it will naturally provoke against me. 

Le Petit Prince ! A charming name, magic 
words, which set all hearts vibrating, like the 
sound of a bell, with affection and hope ; to 
which the affection of mothers and sisters, the 
enthusiasm of intelligent French youth, even 
the faith of the little children, responded. Le 
Petit Prince ! At the very sound the crowd 
would clap their hands, and those who still had 
ideals would uncover their heads. 

The brief life of this unfortunate and Impe- 
rial child is outlined in the memory of France. 

Everyone who has been at Chiselhurst will 
remember the Prince, with his dignified mien, 
manifesting the traditional, but only apparent, 
coldness of the English. 

But does France know him as a child, — 
young, eager for life, for freedom, and for love .'* 

Some time ago I sketched a pen portrait of 
the Prince Imperial, and I take the liberty 
of reproducing it here in greater detail. 

I can see him as a little boy, sometimes in a 
military suit, sometimes in a close-fitting jacket, 
his head erect, with a large turned-down collar, 
his limbs straight and strong, although his 
physique was delicate. 



THE EMPRESS AND THE PRINCE IMPERIAL 26 1 

He was then a child like any child, except 
for a natural gravity that restrained the smile 
which continually played about his lips. 

Still, he was fond of fun, and seemed to 
beckon to the happy years to release him from 
the monotony of his regulated life ; he was 
kind-hearted and good-natured, and he must 
have suffered keenly when, at the distribution 
of prizes, a fellow student insulted him. 

Later he had, if not physical beauty, which 
is almost ridiculous in a man, the noble expres- 
sion which is the stamp of intelligence. From 
his father — the silent dreamer — he inherited 
a meditative and reasoning mind ; from his 
mother, impetuous blood, courage, and an ex- 
uberance of life. 

A blonde, in childhood and in manhood his 
stature taller than the average, he had a magnifi- 
cent appearance ; a stranger to frivolity, to base 
pleasures, to fleeting passion, to falsehood ; given 
up entirely to his ideals, imbued with a desire 
for sacrifice, and burning with the enthusiasm his 
name inspired, he lived in exile, showing to the 
world, to the society of idle men and light 
women, only the surface of his nature ; keeping 
within his bosom the heartbeats of his better 
life, the noble thoughts which lit up his face. 
The unknown lay before him, he had a presenti- 



262 ' THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

ment of it. He desired its approach, he asked 
for its revelation. 

To France, even after the fall of the Empire, 
he still remained Le Petit Prince, as I have 
said. Was it not appropriate, v^as it not pro- 
phetic, this name, prompted by affection, link- 
ing him with those whom he had left behind } 
His birth had touched the hearts of mothers, 
and to his great popularity with them is due 
that sacred memory of the Prince still reli- 
giously guarded in France. This name, Le 
Petit Prince, was in the minds and on the 
lips of the people like a touching appeal, like a 
charming and beautiful symbol, like a fraternal 
reconciliation. 

Above all things, the Prince Imperial was 
French ; and on the subject of France he 
brooked no argument. He would willingly 
have given up the throne, and would have laid 
down his life for his country. 

A fever for revenge, for reconstruction, ran 
in his veins, and he was indignant when our 
papers unjustly criticised him. 

One afternoon, in accompanying the Princess 
Beatrice (rumour said she was engaged to him) 
through one of the galleries of the Palace, the 
young girl was pointing out and commentmg on 
the collection of portraits of her ancestors, when 



THE EMPRESS AND THE PRINCE IMPERIAL. 263 

the Prince smiled sadly, and turning round, 
lifted his finger to the horizon, saying, — 

'' I also have an ancestor over there. He 
sleeps under a dome, surrounded by his great 
marshals, watched over by simple soldiers, and 
guarded by a nation." 

There is a curious incident related of Prince 
Victor, the successor of Le Petit Prince, which 
bears some resemblance to this patriotic out- 
burst. Prince Victor, speaking of his family 
one day, used this phrase in the presence of 
two of his friends, MM. B and Hyrvoix, — 

'' Our House ! " 

As the meaning of his - words was rather 
dubious, one of his companions put the interro- 
gation, — 

" Our House .-^ Of what House, Monseigneur, 
are you speaking .? " 

'' Of the House of Savoy ! " answered Prince 
Victor. 

Had the Prince Imperial been the son of a 
king's daughter, he would never have thought 
of other ancestors than those whose coat of 
arms and name he bore. 

The death of the Prince Imperial was brought 
about by the same catastrophe which killed his 
father. It was the exile that extinguished his 
fine spirit and drove him to his untimely end. 



264 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

Flying from the oppression of the Empress at 
home, from the moral and material state of 
things in which he moved, a sad, morose figure, 
his environment wholly incompatible with his 
mental and physical condition, he died, in the 
exuberance of youth, with the longing for active 
life strong within him. 

He craved for more air, the desire of his eyes 
was for the light of the stars, his heart yearned 
for the strong and gentle warmth of an intel- 
ligent affection ; while around him there dwelt, 
as it were, the rarefied air of a pneumatic ma- 
chine, the dim light of a night-lamp, the icy 
expression of sentiments wrapped in constraint 
and solemnity. 

One day, as M. Pietri and Mme. Le Breton 
announced, in the presence of the Empress, the 
visit of some French people, he could not re- 
strain his joy ; but with the thoughtless gaiety 
of a happy child, sprang forward and clapped 
his hands. 

The Empress, annoyed at this outburst of 
enthusiasm, looked grave. 

'' Well, Louis, what are you doing .? " she 
scoldingly said. " Remember in whose pres- 
ence you stand." 

The Prince then became a Prince again. So 
was it every day. All youthful gaiety, all gen- 



THE EMPRESS AND THE PRINCE IMPERIAL. 265 

erosity of thought, of feeling, were unconsciously 
crushed out of him. 

The Prince had tried to arrange a corner 
entirely for himself in his mother's house. He 
had tried to graft, on the miserable existence 
which had been made for him, an existence 
of his own, which he might be at liberty to en- 
joy. Compelled to attend the family reunions, 
he followed the wishes of the Empress in this 
respect ; but in reality he isolated himself, flee- 
ing in thought from the many distasteful 
subjects discussed. He would go far, very far, 
sometimes, led by his visionary mind, into the 
country of dreams, where men hope largely and 
breathe freely ; where they fight, where they 
love, — and die ! For death, to his eyes, was 
sweeter than that effeminate life, where he was a 
stranger to all that human intercourse and wide 
experience his soul longed for. 

In spite, however, of all the efforts of his 
imagination, he remained under the authority 
of his mother. He was obliged, willingly or 
unwillingly, to be buried with her in the empti- 
ness of life which every day yawned ghastlier 
under her feet ; he was compelled to let the 
dark shadow come between himself and the 
sun ; the ingulfing darkness crushing him with 
its cold hand, blinding his eyes, annihilating his 



266 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

faculties. And so there was a falling-off of his 
friends, a loosening of his ideas, an enervation of 
the whole body. Desperate, alone, feeling that 
he was buried, the Prince dreaded his mother. 
There were endless recriminations and explana- 
tions between them. She exhorted him as if he 
were a girl ; she lectured him in the manner 
and language of a father confessor. The young 
man could scarce bear these childish remon- 
strances ; but, having respect for his mother, he 
endured them with apparent submission. Weary 
and sick at heart, his hours dragged like the 
ball and chain of a condemned man, only taking 
heart a little when away from home — a home 
on whose hearthstone burned no flame, for it 
was desolate and filled with dead ashes. The 
lack of money on the one hand, the dearth of 
his home life and the tyranny of the Empress 
on the other, together with the insults which 
were heaped on him by France — such are the 
causes which determined the young Prince Im- 
perial to leave for Zululand. It is vain to seek 
for other motives to explain his fatal resolution. 
When the Prince Imperial took his departure, 
a touching manifestation of feeling was shown 
him. Forty young Frenchmen offered their 
services as a guard of honour. Gloomy forebod- 
ings must have stirred these young hearts, and 



THE EMPRESS AND THE PRINCE IMPERIAL. 26/ 

they were ready to die with the young Prince, if 
death lay in wait for him. But their courage, 
their desire, their expression of generous senti- 
ments, were thrown away. The Empress would 
not accept their services. " No," she said em- 
phatically, " no one shall accompany my son. He 
has assumed the garb of a soldier. He shall 
do as other soldiers do. H^e must go forth to 
the field of battle mingling with the rank and 
file ; equally protected, nothing more. 

Unfortunately this wish, which was tanta- 
mount to an order, was granted. The sequence 
is known. 

Yes, the sequence is known ; but this does 
not prevent M. Prudhomme declaiming, as he 
sits by his fire, his slippered feet on the fender, 
that there are no more tragedies to-day ! 

After the martyrdom of Le Petit Piince 
some Zulus were exhibited in Paris. He went 
to see them. And for forty cents, on a stage 
before the footlights, between two clowneries, — 
O misery ! — he saw how the young Prince was 
killed ! 

M. Prudhomme, to-morrow, will do for another 
Prince or pauper what he did for the Prince 
Imperial. For the sum of forty cents, through 
the illustrated papers, he will inform himself of 
events, and he will go to sleep in a perfect tran- 



268 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

qiiillity of mind which will breed foolishness, and 
which will turn to malice, to bad faith. Let 
him mock grossly those who know how to suf- 
fer, yes, and to die, it makes no difference. 

M. Prudhomme cannot destroy the sad, sweet 
impression which the death of the young Prince 
has left with the people. He will not succeed 
in provoking the criticism of men at the sound 
of that sacred name — men who have hearts 
and souls, whatever party they belong to or 
whatever their opinions. 

Le Petit Prmce ! Ah ! young blond head, 
it would seem as if there hovered about you an 
indistinct murmur of appealing hope ! — as if 
about you there were the sound of a reveille 
which suddenly burst forth like the magic 
awakener of a youthful host carried away with 
art, literature, and liberty, or like birds tired 
with their long flight, welcoming the sight of a 
hospitable belfry tower. 

When the remains of the poor boy were 
brought home, and the lid which hid them from 
view was lifted, those present were stupefied 
with despair, doubt, and hope ! 

The Prince, lying in his coffin, was not recog- 
nisable ; it was declared unanimously that this 
was not he whom they had loved. Was it pos- 
sible that some mistake had been made } 



THE EMPRESS AND THE PRINCE IMPERIAL 269 

This hope was but of short duration. Dr. 
Evans, the same at whose house the Empress 
had taken refuge on the Fourth of September 
after her flight from the Tuileries, and who was 
present on this sad occasion, put an end to all 
doubt by affirming, after carefully examining 
the mouth of the dead man, that he recognised 
a tooth which he had himself medicated before 
the Prince departed for Zululand. 

On the day of the funeral, several ladies were 
assembled in a little parlour adjoining the ora- 
tory of the Empress, Mme. Breton being also 
present, when a chamberlain came to say that 
the Empress wanted to see the latter. 

Mme. Breton arose and, turning toward her 
guests, said : — 

" I beg you will pardon me for leaving you, 
ladies ; but the Empress has sent for me to read 
her customary prayers. It is four o'clock and I 
am late," — and she disappeared. 

Is not this a human document "^ And what 
shall we say of this prayer, remembered at such 
a time ? What shall we think of her who de- 
manded it ? 

Alas ! I have already said, the Empress was 
thoughtless in her joys as in her sorrows. She 
was a cruel fatality that laid low powerful Em- 
pires. In the worldly and political whirl of the 



2/0 THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. 

reign of Napoleon III., a charming and mirthful 
figure, ringing with laughter, a modern deity, 
she walked unmoved like the pagan divinity of 
old, leaving nothingness wherever her shadow 
passed. 

The woes which she has sown have caused 
her tears to flow ; the despair and sorrow which 
she has caused have also brought her suffering. 
And in the presence of her distress, doubtless 
it would be generous to be silent. But as in 
the presence of the corpse of her son she 
claimed her accustomed prayer, so in the pres- 
ence of her ruin History claims her. And 
History, in the presence of victors as in the 
presence of the vanquished in life, stands also 
unmoved, impartial, and serene. 






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